Sagittarius
by MusicMegXoxo
Summary: Sagittarius "Sage" Valentine is an average 15 year old living a normal life. But when a tragic accident forces her to move from sunny Miami to LA, she'll have to cope with her new life...and unravel the mystery of that fateful night. Rated T for violence and language, might move up to M in later chapters.
1. Meet Sage

"Good morning South Florida! It's Spyder Harrison here from your favorite radio station, Y100. It's seven AM, Wednesday, February fourth. It's going to be a pretty chilly morning, so all you early birds better bundle up! Now before you hit that snooze button, here's a song to get your body going!" _Raise your Glass_ by P!nk began to blare from the tiny alarm clock radio. I groaned and sat up in bed, my hair a mess and my eyes droopy and lifeless. The soft, orange and pink glow of the rising sun illuminated my blue walls and a poster of 3 Doors Down, one of my favorite rock bands. I hated waking up early for school, heck, I hated school, period. Actually, it wasn't that bad, but still, school will be school, and it'll probably remain that way forever. I especially hated waking up for school with an alarm clock. They would always give me mini heart attacks every time they went off. Even on the lowest volume setting they still scared the shit out of me. This thing came from hell, not BrandsMart USA.  
>"Sage! Get up and get ready for school!" My mom called from her room.<br>I slammed my fist into the tiny alarm clock radio in hopes that it would shut off. It worked, but I also bruised my fist in the process.  
><em>Fucking waste of ten bucks.<em> I thought to myself. I dared not say it out loud, because not only do my parents hate swearing, but they gave it to me as a Christmas gift a few years ago in order to help me get up earlier for school. When they saw that I wasn't using it, they decided to wake me up like they used to. I felt kind of guilty, so I decided to use the alarm clock on occasion, and today was one occasion.  
>I stumbled out of bed and tripped on my thick, purple sheets, landing square on my face onto my oak wood floor.<br>"Sage, are you ok in there?" My dad's overpowering voice boomed down the hallway. There was a hint of fatigue in his voice, so I figured he was still trying to sleep.  
>"Yeah, I'm fine."<br>_Fine with a black eye and a broken nose._  
>"Well, keep it down in there. I was late yesterday because of you. So hurry up and get ready."<br>_WHAT THE FU-_ I screamed in my mind. I took the school bus to school yesterday, and all other days. If I was ever late for school, my mom would take me. This was because she worked the night shifts at the Miami-Dade Police Department. She was just ranked a chief and now had to work from seven PM to three AM. I would ask her every morning if she was in any fights the previous night, like riots or shootouts, but she says she normally gets called to tend to small fights that break out in South Beach. Today, I was really hoping she had some action last night.  
>My dad was the President of FPL and worked a typical work schedule; eight AM to six PM, sometimes he comes home earlier, sometimes later. Recently, he's been really stressed out about work and has been down in the dumps all week. I know not to bother him, as he can be pretty intense when he's stressed out. But I was wondering what was going on and just hoped everything was ok. I hoped he wasn't losing his job; that would probably be the worst thing that could happen to us.<br>I stumbled to my beige dresser and yanked open a cream colored drawer. Inside was every electronic I've ever owned: iPods, Gameboys, Nintendo DS's, all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. I reached in and pulled out three iPods: a green video nano, a blue touch screen iPod shuffle, and an iPod touch 3rd generation. I was trying to decide on which one to listen to. I immediately put the green video nano down, as that one was pretty slow. A few years ago, I accidentally dropped it into my drinking cup. A few minutes later, the backlight stopped working and it became incredibly slow. I had been meaning to donate it to charity, but I kept putting it off, so I just decided to keep it. That narrowed my choices down to my iPod shuffle and my iTouch. My shuffle had 670 songs while my iTouch had 274. I mainly used my shuffle as my main iPod; it had most of my favorite rock, rap, hip hop, and oldies music on it, while my iTouch had newer songs like Britney Spears, JLo, Clique Girls, (I was obsessed with them for only a week.)  
>After thinking for awhile, I decided to use my shuffle. I put my iTouch away and plugged my shuffle into my iHome. I put it on shuffle and prayed for the first song to be one I liked.<br>"Please be Green Day! Please be Green Day!" I prayed silently to myself. Just recently, I became obsessed with Green Day. I've had four of their albums on my iPod for awhile now: American Idiot, Dookie, Insomniatic, and 21st Century Breakdown. I started listening to them when I had nothing else to listen to. After American Idiot, I was obsessed, and I now have four Green Day posters and I know all their lyrics by heart.  
>"Don't wanna be an American Idiot!" My iHome blared. I jumped with joy and started to dance around. American Idiot was playing!<br>I danced my way into my bathroom and flipped the switch on. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. I loved who I was: my round face, my smooth, clear skin, my straight, white teeth, (everyone in my family has had braces except for me. My teeth are perfect.) and big, dark brown eyes. My eyes were so dark, they looked as black as night. But if you took a picture with the flash on, my eyes would turn into a milk chocolate brown.  
>I looked like a normal 15 year old, except I was tall. I was 5'11", the tallest girl in my class. I hated my height for a number of reasons, like when people treat me like an object, not a human being. Holding up cell phones to get a better reception, cleaning hard to reach places, and even being the World Trade Center for a project we did to explain 911 were all examples of why I wanted to be normal size. And although I hated my height for those reasons, being tall still has some advantages. I was very good at sports, (basketball, volleyball, track and field, and lacrosse were all sports I thrived in.) and it made me feel older than I already was. Some people have assumed that I'm a mother! But it makes me feel more responsible and mature when people assume that.  
>I stripped from my red pajama shorts with pink and white polka dots and slid my grey tank top off. I stared at my sweet curves, my developing six pack, (yes, I'm developing a six pack.) my lean, muscular arms, and my long, powerful legs. I loved my body, but what I loved most about myself was my hair. It came down to the bottom of my rib cage and was straight, but became slightly wavy towards the bottom. What I loved most about it though was the color: A shimmering ocean blue gradually turning to an emerald green. On my thirteenth birthday, my parents finally gave in to my begging and pleading to dye my hair a different color. So after a successful coloring, the results were beautiful. It started out as a dark blue at my roots, but gradually becomes a sky blue until it turns to a beautiful emerald green. It shines in the summer sun and it never loses its color or shine. What I did was buy blue and green hair dye, (yes, it exists, look in the very back of the shelves.) I added the blue and green dye, let it dry, then I wore a hair net to make sure any extra dye didn't drip on my face or clothes. When it dried a couple hours later, it looked like a dark blue and dark green mop. My parents were upset, but a week later, (thank God I was on Spring Break.) the colors turned to their natural color. My parents were very happy and glad that I chose that color. My hair before the dye was a hazelnut brown with blond highlights, but I can't see myself with brown hair anymore. All I see is a beautiful girl with amazing hair.<br>When I returned to school a week later, people were in awe. Teachers were impressed, students were envious, and I was thrilled.  
>I was smart, (I have straight A's in all my classes.) pretty, talented, popular;<br>I loved it.  
>I grabbed my brush and started to brush my long, gorgeous hair. I paused when my favorite part of American Idiot began to play.<br>"Welcome to a new kind of tension! All across the alien nation! Everything isn't meant to be ok!"  
>I used my brush as a microphone as I belted out my favorite part of the song. When it ended, I put my blue brush down, closed my eyes, and splashed cold water all over my face, immediately snapping me out of my fatigue, bringing me to life. I pumped the sticky, orange facial soap into my hands and smeared it all over my face. It freed any dirt and oil that had survived last night's shower. As I rinsed it off, I felt the dirt and oil fall from my face, being forever forgotten. I quickly brushed my teeth and flew out of my bathroom, flung my undergarments on, then threw my clothes on that I had organized the day before. I shut my iHome off and ran out into the kitchen to get breakfast. Before I left my room completely, I looked at my clock: I had gotten ready in a minute and twelve seconds. I smiled.<br>That was a new record.


	2. I don't do mornings

**Second chapter! :D I promise I'll upload more chapters ASAP, I have most of the story written out:) PEACE.**

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><p>I walked through my spacious apartment and into the kitchen. I went into a cupboard and grabbed a glass bowl. That's when my mom walked in. She was wearing her fuzzy, frayed pink robe that she's had for centuries, (rumor has it, I was born while she was wearing that robe.) her white slippers with purple roses sewn into the top; it looked like someone had set off a firecracker in her brown, shoulder length hair, and she had dark circles under her hazel eyes.<p>

_Yeesh, looks like someone's at Death's door._  
>My mom smiled.<br>"Good morning sweetie."  
>"Morning mom." <em>God, looks like someone needs help from <em>Extreme Makeover.  
>"How did you sleep last night?"<br>"Like a baby." I grabbed the Lucky Charms from the pantry and poured the marshmallows and the wheat pieces (aka: The Worst Part Of The Cereal.) into my bowl. The clinking and coaching of the wheat pieces made my ears ring; I hated high pitched noises in the morning.  
>"So how was the night shift? Was there any action?" I grabbed the Almond Milk from the fridge (I'm not lactose intolerant, thank God, but my system can't handle regular milk anymore. Last week, I took a small swig of regular milk and I was in the bathroom all week.) and poured it into my bowl.<br>"Well, you'll be happy to know that I stopped a couple of teenage boys from starting a riot."  
>I nearly dropped my bowl.<br>"Shut up!"  
>"Mmhmm, apparently, they were upset that the Miami Heat lost a game against the Bulls. Gathered up friends and strangers and started to burn tires and basketballs. Were you awakened by sirens last night?"<br>"Yeah, at around three AM." Awakened? More like 'they scared the shit out of me.'  
>"Well, that's what they were for. They managed to put out the fire while me and the guys were able to wrangle up the guys. I think you'll be happy to know that I used my tazer last night." Then my mom started smiling like she was the six million dollar winner in the Florida Lottery.<br>I stood there, my eyes wide and my mouth split into a shocked grin. It was so cool to know that while you were sleeping, your mom was kicking some guy's ass. I loved having my mom as a police woman; it gave me cool stories to tell at school.  
>"I didn't get home till four thirty; I'm exhausted." she yawned.<br>_So that's why you look like a living hell._ I thought.  
>I sat at the table, slurping up wheat pieces and marshmallows with a grin on my face. That's when I heard heavy footsteps in the hall. I turned around and saw my dad walk in; he was wearing his stained white undershirt, (at least, I think it's white.) and his baggy blue and white plaid shorts. His short black hair was a mess and his scraggly beard looked like it had been unshaven for weeks. There was a faint glimmer of alertness in his brown eyes, which was completely different from all other days where his eyes looked like crap. He sat across from me at the table.<br>_Ladies and gentleman: The President of FPL._  
>He grunted with content.<br>"Morning ladies."  
>"Good morning sweetie." My mom called from the fridge.<br>"Morning, dad." I said with a mouthful of marshmallows. He glared at me, while shaking his head.  
>"Sage, you know I don't like it when you talk with your mouth full."<br>"Sorry." I muttered. My dad hated everything I did. It's probably just the stress of work, but still, he's been acting all weird recently.  
>I swallowed the marshmallows and slurped up the rest of my milk. My dad then slammed his fists into the table, causing some milk to splash on the floor.<br>"Sagittarius! Where are your manners this morning!" He screamed at me.  
>The whole room went silent. I cringed as he shouted at me; one because I hated that name, (I'll explain why later.) and whenever my dad yelled at me, I became terrified of him. The only thing I'm normally scared of are insects that are bigger than one inch, (especially spiders.) but nothing compares to the dear I have when he yells at me. I dared not refuse his commands, because I knew how much he hated it when people disrespected him. He was the star football player and wrestler in high school and college, so I could only imagine what he could do to people that were much smaller and weaker than him.<br>"Clean up the mess."  
>I dared not ignore the request, (considering the circumstances.) and I walked slowly into the kitchen and walked past my mother, whose knuckles were pressed up against her pale face. I knew that my dad could be physical with anyone he wants to be, and although he'd never harm my mother, he could always lash out at her with words.<br>When I was 12, I overheard him and my mom arguing over whether we should move or not. After lots of screaming, I heard my dad call her a "lazy, fat ass who cares about nothing but jewelry and bullshit." Then, as soon as it started, it ended. Just like a thunderstorm on a hot summer day. They just dispersed, and that alone said more than continuing the argument. At that age, I thought that people made up right after big fights, (MAN, I was so incredibly wrong.) so I thought that everything between my mom and dad had ended; but later in the evening, I heard my mom crying as she was getting ready for her night shift. At first, I didn't know what she was crying over, but then, I overheard her mumbling about how disrespected my dad made her feel. Right then and there, I realized that my dad can be very hurtful when it comes to words.  
>I tore a paper towel off the roll and slowly walked back to the table, my heart racing a mile a minute.<br>"Hurry up, Sagittarius!" My face burned up at the sound of that name and quickly walked over to the table. I silently sopped up all the milk from the carpet and I threw the soggy paper towel away when I finished. I got up, faced my dad, and breathed a shaky breath.  
>"I'm sorry dad; I know better, and my actions were thoroughly disrespectful. Please forgive me." Yipes, it sounds like I just robbed a bank or something. I'm never that sincere; normally just a simple 'sorry' and maybe a hug and a kiss covers the whole incident; but when it comes to my dad, everything sounds like a serious crime.<br>He glared at me for a couple of seconds, then, his expression softened.  
>"I'm sorry to, Sage; I would never snap at you like that, but I'm just very stressed out at work right now. There's an issue going on with a man who has gotten in trouble one too many times."<br>"Is it Phil?"  
>"Correct."<br>Oh yeah, I remembered Phil. He was one of the sweetest men at my dad's office. When I went there for 'Bring your child to work day' when I was 10, he gave me some licorice and popcorn. I was a bit surprised that he would be so nice to me when he had three kids with him. As it turned out, he was being extraordinary nice to me because my dad was his boss; so he tried to please my dad by treating his most prized possession with respect. I remember my dad pulling me aside after he gave me a stuffed tiger and saying,  
>"I want you to stay in my office for the rest of the day. If Mr. Phil offers you another gift, I want you to reject it."<br>"But why? He's being nice to me AND he has three kids of his own, so why should I?"  
>"Because he's been getting into a lot of trouble lately, and he's trying to please me by offering you gifts and candy. What he's done is very serious, and pampering my only daughter will certainly NOT get him out of trouble. The tiger will be your last gift from him."<br>I asked my dad about what Phil did wrong, but he only told me that it was a very bad thing and that he would be punished. So I took my dad's word for it, (remember the 'no disrespecting dad' rule?) and when Phil offered to take me to the park with his kids, I rejected. Although I would've loved to go, I knew that what he did was something bad.  
>I still have the stuffed tiger. Whenever I look at it, I think of Phil.<br>"What did he do now?" I asked, jumping back into the present.  
>"Well, he apparently hacked into the company's bank account and was caught embezzling millions of dollars from our account to his. He said he did it to get the money that he deserved from his 'long hours of labor,' but I knew why he did it: he's very poor; has a family of four with a newborn of only 3 months and hardly makes enough money to feed just one of them. They're also in serious debt. If they don't pay off their mortgages soon, they'll be kicked out of their house."<br>"But doesn't he earn enough money a week to buy plenty of food and pay for the house?"  
>"You're exactly right, Sage. He earns more than enough; but he puts all the money into their college funds. He says that education is more important than food or a home."<br>_Damn, that's deep. _I thought.  
><em>But seriously, who the hell puts all the money they've earned into their child's college fund? What if the child doesn't go to college?<em>  
>My dad sighed.<br>"It's a sad, sad thing. This is the best job he can get, and he completely blew it. They said he would have to go to jail for what he did, probably about 10 years at the very least, but it's also a bad rap on the company, especially me."  
>I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat.<br>"If or when he gets out of jail, what will you do to him?"  
>"Nothing." He replied, sitting back in his chair.<br>I stared at him, my face registering a look of shock.  
>"You're not gonna fire him?"<br>"As a matter of fact, I was gonna do it today; it's his last day of work before he goes to jail." He leaned in closer to me and took my hand. He stared right into my eyes, not even moving a muscle.  
>"I'm sorry I snapped at you Sage, I'm just very stressed out about this whole deal and I'm very worried about his family. I hate being in these bad moods, but sometimes I just can't help myself and I blow a fuse. But I'm setting one thing straight: I'd NEVER hurt you or your mother, purposely or accidentally. I love you, and I'm sorry."<br>Wow, that was pretty deep. I actually felt that in my heart a little bit. I knew he meant what he said, he always means what he says. I can feel how stressed out he is, I mean, this is pretty intense to be going through with these tough economic times, and I know it's ok to let off steam sometimes.  
>I smiled at him.<br>"It's ok dad, I forgive you."  
>He smiled at me and looked over at my mom, who was standing in a shocked silence from the story of Phil. I could see the redness in her eyes and I saw the tears welling up in her eyes.<br>"Donna? Do you forgive me?"  
>She snapped out of her trance and smiled.<br>"Yes Chris, I forgive you." She suddenly gave my dad a loving look.  
>"Besides, I can't be mad on the eve of our 20th wedding anniversary!"<br>My dad's eyes lit up.  
>"Of course, one of the biggest milestones in our marriage! How could I ever forget?"<br>I chuckled silently to myself. My parents have been planning this event since I was born; heck, probably before they were even married they began to plan this event. Yes, I was born five years after they got married, (I was a late bloomer.) but that didn't stop them from having this 'very important.' event.  
>"I hope it's fine with you if we eat at The Silver Moon on the outdoor deck; it took awhile for me to find an available seat outdoors for tomorrow night, but I pulled it off."<br>My mom gasped and put her hand to her mouth. I gawked. The Silver Moon was a very fancy (and expensive.) Italian and seafood restaurant. The last time we went there was for my eighth grade graduation, and we had to wait for 30 minutes before we were able to at least get a table inside. The food was insanely good, but it was also very pricey. (30 bucks for a lunch sized portion of spaghetti.) We weren't sure if we were gonna go back there again, but now that my dad made reservations for an outside table, I was certain my mom would go.  
>"I also hope you don't mind a romantic stroll on the beach after our dinner, led only by the moonlight and the lights of beautiful South Beach."<br>"Not at all." My mom replied in a smooth voice.  
>"I was hoping we could head to Club Champ after our walk on the beach and just let the beautiful melodies carry us away into the night."<br>Ahh, this was so romantic; the dinners, the midnight strolls, the dancing...  
>Wait, Club Champ?<br>"Wait a minute. Isn't Club Champ in, like, the middle of South Beach?" I had heard about Club Champ. You had to be at least 18 to enter and if you were over 21, the legal drinking age in Florida, you were allowed to have unlimited free alcohol and booze. Not only that, but it was a place where the music tended to be REALLY loud. Once, I heard the music all the way from the middle of Downtown Miami in the middle of rush hour. So it was basically a place for drunken idiots who loved to get their eardrums blown up by the ridiculously loud music.  
>"Yes, but every Thursday night is a night dedicated to all the couples in Miami, so the music is soft, slow, and romantic." My mom started slow dancing in the kitchen and pretended that the broom was my dad.<br>I made a face. I wasn't a big fan of slow dancing. I preferred quick songs with a nice beat and maybe even some guitar action. My parents, however, loved slow dancing, so tomorrow night will be the perfect night for them.  
>I looked up at the clock in the kitchen: 7:25 AM; the bus would be here in five minutes.<br>"Well, I gotta jump; the bus'll be here soon."  
>I ran into my room and sighed at my sky blue walls, my dark oak wood floors, my fan that made clicking and clacking noises whenever it oscillates, and my balcony with the rocking chair and glass table. After admiring my room, I snatched up my shuffle, my iTouch from my drawer, my red and black headphones from my dresser, and my light blue Jansport backpack with writings and notes that me and my friends wrote. As I switched off my fan, I remembered one more thing: I went back to my dresser and grabbed a thin, black string with a blazing phoenix dangling from the end. It was a deep crimson red and golden yellow with tongues of deep orange flames blazing around it's body. On its breast it had a shiny red ruby which added more beauty to this already beautiful necklace. My parents gave it to me as a birthday gift last year and I had worn it every day ever since I got it. I attached it onto my neck and headed out my room. As I walked past my parents, I said to them,<br>"Just promise me one thing about tomorrow night."  
>"What is it sweetie?" My mom asked.<br>"Please don't get drunk when you go to Club Champ. I know about their free alcohol deal, and I don't want you to take advantage of it."  
>My mom burst out laughing and my dad chuckled.<br>"You still have that same sense of humor just like your Grandpa Joe. Tell you what: we have one drink and we're finished for the night. How does that sound?"  
>"Sounds good to me." I called as I opened the front door.<br>"Bye guys! See you later!"  
>"Have a good day honey!" My parents called out in unison. As I shut the door behind me, I heard my mom say,<br>"What are we gonna do with her?"  
>I walked down the spacious hallways of my apartment building, the blood red carpet almost giving me a migraine, and went down the elevator into the main lobby. I looked over at the reception desk and saw my friend Derek handing a room key to a lady. Derek was one of my best friends whom I loved to hang out with all the time. Even though he's ten years older than me, he loves to act like a kid who never wants to grow up. Every Saturday night, we would go down to the game room and play air hockey and racing games to see who had improved their skills the most over the past week. I always won, so I always had Derek say to me that I was the champion of all the games in the game room and that no one could beat me. Since we both have unlimited gaming cards, we could play the games as much as we wanted.<br>When he saw me, he winked.  
>"You better watch out Sage! I've been practicing my driving skills and my air hockey skills! I just might beat you this Saturday night!"<br>I laughed.  
>"Yeah right! I could beat you in my sleep! You know I can beat you anytime, anywhere!"<br>He waved a hand at me.  
>"Have a nice day, Sage."<br>"You too, Derek!" I called to him as I walked out the front doors. When I took a step outside, I took in a cool, crisp, fresh breath of fresh air. The cool morning sun felt nice on my hot face. I sighed.  
>"Today's just another regular day." I said to myself as I headed towards the bus stop.<p> 


	3. A little info

**Just a little history on Sage! xx**

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><p>On March 21, 1995, at 9:55 PM EST, Sagittarius Gemini Valentine was born at Holy Cross Hospital in Miami, Florida. She measured 9in and weighed 8lbs, 6oz. It was the day of the Spring Equinox.<p>

That girl was me.  
>Yes, my real name is Sagittarius. Normally, I'd love my name, but I hated it. I thought it was the worst name anyone could name their child, but I always didn't think that.<br>When I was young, I loved my name. People thought it was so cool to have an astrological sign as your first name and middle name, and they all loved that my last name was dedicated to a holiday. I felt on top of the world; that is, until I went into fifth grade.  
>When the first day of fifth grade rolled around, I strutted into the classroom with a big grin on my face and was greeted with a bunch of "Hey Sagittarius!" or "How was your summer, Sagittarius?" I felt good, until a new girl walked into the classroom. By the looks of disgust on her face, I could tell that she was going to be an issue this year. In order to reassure myself that she was as friendly as can be, I casually strolled up to her.<br>"Hi!" I greeted, smiling at her and waving my hand.  
>"My name's Sagittarius, what's your name?"<br>She stared at me and wrinkled her nose.  
>"Your name is Sagittarius? Ha! That's gotta be the dumbest name I've ever heard!"<br>My heart sank to my feet as she mocked my name. No one has ever made fun of my name before, they mostly awed at it, but the new girl was the first one to ever make fun of it.  
>Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. Maybe she didn't know the true meaning of the name Sagittarius. If I provided her with a little detail, then maybe she'll see how beautiful my name really is.<br>"Well, Sagittarius is a constellation and the astrological sign from November 22 to December 22. It's name is Greek for 'Archer' and its partner constellation is Sagitta, 'The Arrow.' It's a very uncommon name too, so I'm pretty special to have a name like this."  
>She stared at me, then burst out laughing. I was confused for a few seconds before she started to explain while still trying to catch her breath.<br>"My God! Not only is your name stupid, but you're a complete nerd!" And she started laughing again. This time, people were turning their heads to the girl laughing uncontrollably and the girl who was turning as bright red as a freshly steamed lobster. The girl caught her breath and stuck her hand out at me.  
>"I'm Brenda Gale. I just moved here from New York."<br>As I went to shake her hand, she yanked it away.  
>"So pleased to not be your friend!" She laughed and started to walk away, a hushed silence filling the room. My eyes were starting to tear up. I was so friendly to her, so how could she be so mean to me? Maybe she missed New York, but she was still being terribly horrible to me and it was only the first day of school.<br>Brenda turned to me when she was at her desk.  
>"You know, I hope you consider changing your name. It's bad enough to make me puke!" and she sat down. People could see the look of horror and shock in my face, and it felt a hundred times worse. I then realized that she was going to be a rotten person for as long as she lives.<br>After the Brenda incident, people were comforting me by saying that my name was beautiful and that I should be proud with name like mine. But after awhile, people were starting to edge towards Brenda's side and thought that my name was overrated and old. They were tired of the same old name and most of them didn't even know how to spell it. Pretty soon, people no longer called me Sagittarius, but "The tall girl." It had gotten to the point where I started to question my real name and why I was named something as ridiculous as Sagittarius. So one day after school, I went up to my mom, who was in her room, watching soap operas on TV. She was so concentrated on her TV show, she didn't even notice me come into the room.  
>"Mom?"<br>She jumped as her attention was turned away from the TV show. She caught her breath after a few seconds and whistled.  
>"My gosh Sagittarius, you scared me! What's wrong?"<br>"Why is my name Sagittarius?"  
>My mom stared at me for a second, a look of question in her eyes. She looked at the TV for a couple of seconds, then looked back at me, then back at the TV.<br>"Mom?"  
>She took in a deep breath.<br>"Sagittarius, your birth caught us completely off guard. We were so worried that you wouldn't be born after four years of labor. We thought something was wrong, but when my water broke, I realized that you were alive and well, and when I gave birth to you, we were so caught up in your unexpected life that we didn't even pick out a name for you! So I decided to name you after my astrological sign, Sagittarius. I thought it was such a beautiful name; it reminds me of beauty and gentleness and uniqueness..." That's when I saw the tears start to roll down her cheeks, and pretty soon, she was crying rivers out her eyes.  
>"Mom? Are you ok? I'm sorry I asked! I didn't know it was a painful memory for you!"<br>My mom sniffled and wiped her eyes.  
>"It's not you, Sagittarius. I just love that name so much...it brings back good memories of my childhood..." And she started bawling again. I slowly backed out of her room and into my room. I opened my balcony door and flopped down on my bed, listening to the gentle crash of the waves against the beach.<br>_So I was named after my mom's astrological sign. Ok, that seems to clear that up, but what about my middle name? I really wanna know about that.__  
><em>So when my dad got home, he flopped down on the couch and flipped through the channels to find something good to watch. I decided to ask him about my middle and last name origin over my mother, whom I was worried would start crying again.  
>"Hey dad?"<br>My dad turned to me and smiled.  
>"Hey kiddo! What's up?"<br>"Why is my middle name Gemini?"  
>"Well you see, my astrological sign is Gemini, and since your mom named you Sagittarius, I decided that your middle name should be Gemini."<br>Wow, he said that as if he'd been expecting my question. While it took my mom awhile to answer, he already had the answer in his mind. I guess he never forgot the day I was born.  
>"Ok, and why is my last name Valentine?"<br>My dad looked up at the ceiling and drummed his fingers on his lap.  
>"Ah yes; your last name is Valentine because that was your mother's last name. She refused to use my last name, Dinkleberger. I don't blame her either! I hate my last name! So we decided to use her last name, Valentine. I don't know about you, but I think Valentine sounds a whole lot better than Dinkleberger!"<br>I chuckled as I walked back into my room. The balcony door was still open and the smooth sounds of seagulls were starting to fill my room. I closed it when the setting sun started to fill my room with blazing sunlight. I sighed a content sigh.  
>"Well, I don't know what I've been so worried about; the history of my name is actually very interesting. Everyone's just jealous of my name, that's all."<br>But they weren't jealous, they thought that just because Brenda was pretty and from New York, she was right about everything she said. Everyone listened to her no matter what she said. If she said the apocalypse was occurring and a giant meteor was hurtling towards Florida, they'd all believe her. Is she said that everyone in the world is stupid and ugly, they'd all agree. So when she said the next day that I was a friendless loser with a retarded name, everyone agreed. No one sat with me at lunch, no one hung out with me at recess, no one asked me to hang out after school; they were all on Brenda's side. They were all too stupid to notice the evil in people.  
>Luckily, I'm not.<br>I tried to be brave and ignore all the rude comments I'd received, but after a few days, my heart was completely shattered. I couldn't think of a way to end all the teasing; until I thought of suicide. I decided to end my whole life so people could forget me and move on. Besides, no one remembered my name, so they probably wouldn't know that I would be dead.  
>I decided private suicide over public because if I lived after whatever I attempted to do, authorities would put me into rehab; and my parents would probably approve. If that ever happened, then I would be known as the 'insane suicidal.' And I don't want that to happen.<br>Know the question was, how would I do it? Cutting? Stabbing? Pills? Hanging? Suffocation? Drowning? Burning? The possibilities were endless, but I decided to go with the pills. Chances are, if I did any other method, I'd probably live through it with serious injuries. Also, the pool was being made over, so I couldn't drown myself.  
>I decided to also write my last will and testament, which entitled all my electronics and clothes to the needy and all my money to Holy Cross Hospital, the hospital I was born in.<br>When I got home from school after a day of teasing, I decided to write my last will and testament. Fortunately, my mom was asleep, and my dad was at work, so when I would write it, I would be in complete peace. I went to go get paper in the supply closet when I came upon an old box. 'Wedding Memories' it said. Of course, this was my parent's memories of their wedding long ago. Curious as to what was inside, I took the dusty lid off the box and peered inside. It was filled with old pictures and documents with writing that I could barely read. I reached in and pulled one out: it was a picture of my parents on their wedding day. My mom was wearing a sparkly white gown with puffy sleeves and a veil that covered most of her face. My dad was wearing a black tux and had a gold tie around his neck. They both looked so young, it was hard to believe they were my parents. I flipped it over and it read 'Wedding Day; 1991.'  
>I put the photo aside and pulled out two documents that were paper clipped together. On the top was my dad's birth certificate. I read the fancy lettering that was nearly faded.<br>'Christopher Thomas Dinkleberger III. Born on June 16, 1966 in Augusta, Georgia.'  
>Ok, so my dad was right about two things: he really is a Gemini, (Gemini is May 21 to June 21.) and Dinkleberger is a really funny last name. I wondered if the doctors laughed when his parents announced his full name out loud.<br>The second document was my mother's birth certificate. This one was much easier to read:  
>'Donna Jennifer Valentine. Born on February 8, 1965 in Miami, Florida.'<br>So my dad was right about another thing: my mom's last name WAS Valentine. So far, things were going smoothly. I've been getting the truth so far, and I'm glad my parents aren't lying to me...  
>Wait a minute. My mom was born in February? But that's Aquarius, not Sagittarius. Sagittarius was all the way back in December.<br>I couldn't believe it! My mom lied to me! I wasn't named after her astrological sign. If I was, my name would be Aquarius Gemini Valentine. So if I wasn't named after my mom, who or what was I named after?  
>I searched through the box and pulled out useless photos and documents until I came upon the last photo. It was of my mom with a really old lady. My mom looked fat, but I knew that this was taken when she was pregnant with me. And I couldn't even look at the old lady. She had no teeth and you could hardly see her eyes under all the loose flesh. Her hair was white and curly, and it looked like she hadn't brushed it in weeks. She was old and wrinkly, and she looked almost clueless about what was going on. I looked at the back and read the description:<br>'In loving memory of Sagittarius Jane Valentine, who died of a heart attack in her home on March 21, 1995 at 6:32 PM. She will be the best mom ever. I love her.'  
>I stared at the inscription, completely horrorstruck. I wasn't named after my mom at all, I was named after the grandmother that I never even knew! That was the only way my mom could remember my grandmother without bursting into tears: naming her only daughter Sagittarius and not crying rivers when she hears that name.<br>I was enraged. If someone at school finds out about the true origin of my name, then I'm sure I won't have any friends. The word would get to Brenda and...God knows what would happen. I might have to abandon Florida and move to Canada. Maybe Vancouver, but probably somewhere near Banff National Park in Alberta. My good friend Kayla lives there, so she probably won't know about the whole name incident.  
>I was about to tear the photo to shreds when I heard my mom wake up in her room. I quickly stuffed the papers back into the box and shoved it back into the closet. I never did write my last will and testament, and I'm definitely not dead, but I remain mad at my parents for not telling me the truth about my name, and I probably always will be.<br>But then came the decision to give myself a nickname. I sat on my rocking chair on my balcony and felt the warm sun on my face and smelled the salty tang of the sea water. I always got my best ideas while sitting on my balcony.  
>"Let's see, what sounds like a shorter, simplified version of Sagittarius?" I said to myself. I sat there for an hour wondering before I gave up and went back inside. I flopped onto my bed and sighed.<br>"Looks like I'm gonna be the freak forever." I muttered under my breath.  
>A few weeks later, I had to do a science project: research any plant or herb and provide useful facts about it and colorful pictures. I had originally wanted to write my report on dandelions, but when I found out how many girls were doing their projects on dandelions, I forgot about that idea. I searched through my science textbook in hopes of finding a good plant to write my paper on when I came across sage, a type of herb that tastes like mint. No one was writing about it, so I decided to pick it for my project.<br>When I got home that day, I got started on my project. I researched sage on the internet and found tons of interesting facts; like how sage is more popular than mint, that it grows in only the Mediterranean, and how the definition of 'sage' is 'a smart, wise person.' Pretty soon, I had five pages written with six sources and tons of colorful pictures. I printed it out and went to wrote my name on it when I was struck with an idea. Sage sounded a lot like Sagittarius, so I decided to try a little experiment. Instead of writing 'Sagittarius Valentine,' I wrote on my paper 'Sage Valentine.'  
>After I turned it the next day, my science teacher said she wanted to see me. When I walked into her classroom at the end of the day, she smiled and handed me my paper. I had gotten an A+. I was thrilled; then I saw the red words next to my name: 'Very cute! I like the new nickname!'<br>It had worked on my science teacher, so next, I tried my parents. When I told then the story that night, they were a little reluctant, but they finally agreed to call me Sage.  
>Pretty soon, people were calling me Sage and were starting to hang out with me more often. By the next week, people had noticed me and were hanging out with me at school. Brenda was furious when she found out that her little scheme had backfired, but I just simply ignored her. She was so interested with Sagittarius, but not with Sage. I just kept it at that.<br>And that's how my name came to be Sage.  
>A cold gust of wind brought me back to the present. I slid the hood on my sweatshirt over my head and continued walking to the bus stop. I was wearing a Green Day t-shirt underneath my blue and orange UF sweatshirt, (it's my dream to go there for college.) and I was wearing my skinny blue jeans with my Sonic the Hedgehog belt buckle over my black leather studded belt. I had on my red and blue My Chemical Romance fingerless gloves that were shoved into my pockets. My nails were a French Manicure with the Miami Heat logo painted onto them, and I was wearing my pink and purple Nike high tops. I know it's not fancy, but I was tired last night while picking my outfit for today; and I'm fine with it. The cold sun glared off the towering office buildings and cast eerie reflections onto the road and sidewalk. Cold gusts of wind made me shiver, even though I was bundled up pretty well. I stopped at the bus stop and pulled my phone out of my pocket: 7:30 AM. The bus should be here by now, unless it came by earlier and I missed it. I've never been late before in my life, and I really hoped I wasn't late today.<br>Minutes past. I started to nervously tap my foot repeatedly on the ground. I was pretty sure I missed the bus now. I looked at my phone again: 7:38.  
><em>Maybe it's just late<em>. I thought.  
><em>Maybe there was an accident on the way here and it had to go another long way<em>. I groaned.  
>"Where could it be?" I said to no one.<br>"Maybe it's up your butt and around the corner!" A familiar voice yelled behind me. I turned around and saw my friend Lindsay running towards me with my other friend Macy running far behind her. Lindsay was one of my best friends. She had long blond hair with bright blue eyes that would light up whenever she was happy. She was wearing a striped red, blue, and grey long sleeved shirt and a grey and white striped mini skirt. She was wearing her red Converse with white stripes painted onto them, and her arms jingled with the sound of bangles. As you can see, she loves stripes.  
>She stopped in front of me and started to pant hard, putting her hands on her knees.<br>"Jesus, Lindsay; aren't you cold in a mini skirt?"  
>She looked up at me and smiled.<br>"Nah, I ran all the way here, I'm pretty warm." She looked behind her.  
>"Hurry up Macy! God, you're slower than a snail!"<br>My other best friend Macy came up behind her, panting about 10 times harder than Lindsay was. As much as I loved her, she was a little overweight. She always has been since I met her in kindergarten. She was short and plump with short brown hair with two red streaks on the front part of her hair and had green eyes. She was wearing a dark red blouse with a black jacket and she was wearing blue jeans with little studs on the pockets. She had on her black Air Walk's with rock and roll icons all over it. Out of all of us, Macy was probably the funniest. We had all met in Kindergarten on the first day, terrified and crying for our parents. When we saw each other, we decided to play Princess in the play castle all day. Even though the teacher got mad at us, we had the best time ever. That was the day we all became friends. They've stuck by me through thick and thin, and I've stuck by them as well. Remember the Brenda incident? Well, they were the only ones who stuck by me through the whole thing. I hung out with them every day and I felt safe and secure. I love them so much, and I don't know what I would do without them.  
>Macy's breathing slowed down and she snorted at us.<br>"Well, excuse me for having an obesity trait running through my family!"  
>I chuckled.<br>"Macy, you look great. Are you still on that diet?"  
>"Yeah, I'm still on it." She shot a glance towards Lindsay.<br>"But SOMEONE stole my Fiber One Plus bar that was my breakfast!"  
>Lindsay started humming.<br>"Hey, just think of it like this: you chased after me and got plenty of exercise! Now, you can enjoy your 'bar 'o' fiber' and not worry about your weight!"  
>Lindsay reached into her backpack and pulled out a Fiber One Plus bar. Macy snatched it out of her hand and munched on it greedily, giving Lindsay a cold glare.<br>I shook my head.  
>"What am I gonna do with you two?"<br>I heard a vehicle approach the bus stop. I turned around and saw the school bus pull up and open the doors.  
>"Sorry I'm late kids! There was a horrible accident on the way here and I had to take a detour. I called the school and let them know that I was gonna be late."<br>I breathed a sigh of relief. I was right about the school bus incident all along, and he called the school to let them know we were gonna be late!  
>"So will they still mark us late?" I asked.<br>"Nope, they said that the late bell will be first period. That'll give you girls plenty of time to go to your lockers and get ready."  
>I almost started dancing, I was that happy.<br>We boarded the warm school bus and saw it filled with teenagers who were listening to music, finishing homework, and throwing things around. We made our way to the back of the bus to our usual seat before the bus started to drive away. Normally, it was just two people to a seat, but some people managed to cram five people onto a seat. (how the hell do they do that?) so having three people to a seat was perfectly ok.  
>"SO, I heard today that the lunch might be changed to brussels sprouts and carrots today." Macy announced.<br>Lindsay and I groaned.  
>"Why the fuck would they do that?" I said in disbelief.<br>"Apparently, we aren't getting enough health food in our diet, that all we're all eating shit, I heard. So they might change the menu for today and probably the rest of this week and next week too."  
>I shook my head in disbelief.<br>"Well, I payed for pizza and chicken fingers, not healthy food."  
>"I want my money back!" Lindsay protested. Then she started to chant,<br>"We want our money back! We want our money back!"  
>Only a few people turned around and looked at her, but didn't say anything back. She quieted down.<br>"Well, on a positive note, you guys know Brian Fresmark? The senior?"  
>"Yeah, I know him." I said. Macy nodded. Brian was a pretty big loser; I'm surprised he's made it as far as 12th grade without cracking under all the pressure of being bullied.<br>"Well apparently, he got a buzz cut in order to look cooler."  
>I almost chocked on the air.<br>"Shut the hell up!"  
>"Yup. He said he was sick of all the teasing he's been getting, so he changed his look."<br>"The only thing that'll do to him is get him stuffed in a garbage can." Macy mumbled.  
>Lindsay nodded.<br>"Exactly. Every time we see him, keep your eyes peeled for any kind of threat that will cause him pain, but us great pleasure."  
>We went silent again. Macy looked at me.<br>"Well?"  
>I looked at her, confused.<br>"Well what?"  
>"Don't you have any news to share with us?" Lindsay said, poking my shoulder.<br>"Oh. Well, umm, my parent's 20th wedding anniversary is tomorrow."  
>Lindsay sighed.<br>"Ahh love; such a beautiful thing." She cooed.  
>"I think it's too mushy and icky." Macy grimaced.<br>"So in other words, just like you?" I remarked. Lindsay burst out laughing while Macy's mouth hung open. That was probably the best remark I've ever made to Macy; I've always felt a little bad about teasing her about her weight, but I knew she didn't take it seriously; she was always laughing with us in the end.  
>The bus ride continued for some time before we pulled up to a big maroon colored building. We stepped outside and stared at the giant sign right next to the school bus: 'Miami School of Performing Arts.'<br>Yes, I go to a performing arts high school. It went from kindergarten to 12th grade. (It's a pretty big school.) You had to audition to get in, and I was accepted into kindergarten when I sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. The audition was easy for me, but for most other people, they aren't so lucky. I was lucky, and I've been going to this school for as long as I can remember. It's a lot of fun coming here, but I still have lots of homework. (most of it is just reading.)  
>I sing, I dance, I act, I draw, I can play almost every instrument, I write, I can do almost everything. In fact, Lindsay, Macy and I are the best threesome in singing. We can sing any song with a regular, high, and higher pitch. The harmony is amazing, and people are amazed on how we do it.<br>We walked inside the dark, wooded hallway to our lockers, which were right next to each other. At MSPA, we're allowed to decorate our lockers anyway we want. My locker had a painting of a sunset on a beach, Lindsay's had stripes all over it, and Macy had food wrappers glued to it.  
>Typical us.<br>I tapped in my locker combo and I grabbed my books for the morning when Lindsay punched my arm.  
>"Look! There's Brian! His hair is cut!"<br>I spun around and saw him: his normally short blond hair was now a buzz cut. People were staring at him as he walked to his locker with a hint of swag in his step. (he obviously has none though.)  
>I shook my head.<br>"My God, that boy has a serious issue."  
>"No kidding." Lindsay slammed her locker shut.<br>"Speaking of serious issues, here comes some real trouble."  
>I turned around and sighed. It was Brenda Gale and her little clique of jocks and cheerleaders. Her long, dark brown hair stood out against her pale white face. She wore a pink business like outfit, with a dainty blouse, jacket, and tie. She wore a pink, frilly miniskirt and pink high heels. Black eyeliner, eye shadow, and sparkly mascara made her look like she hadn't slept in days, and her lips were a blood red. When she saw me, she grimaced.<br>"My goodness Sagittarius, what happened to you? It looks like you were run over by a school bus. Maybe it dragged you all the way here." Her friends burst out laughing. (I shouldn't call them her friends, I bet they're all terrified of her.) Her voice was too sweet and soft; it made her sound innocent when in real life, she was a cold, slimy snake. Not only that, she loved to call me Sagittarius only because she knows that it pisses me off when she does.  
>"I wouldn't be talking Brenda; it looks like you were hired by someone from Fake People Incorporated."<br>Lindsay and Macy started 'Ooooohing' her clique looked at each other in disgust. Brenda just smiled.  
>"You better watch yourself, Sagittarius. If you don't, things will get pretty ugly."<br>"Not as ugly as you!" Macy shouted at her. Everyone stared at her in shock. Brenda was clearly annoyed.  
>"Can it, fatty. Why don't you just go eat some carbs and whine about it to your counselor?"<br>The whole clique started laughing and giving each other high fives. I, however, was burning up with rage. I could feel the blood rushing to my head and I could hear the pounding of my heart. I looked over at Macy to find her crying, Lindsay trying to comfort her. The pain in her eyes only added more anger to my rage as I turned to Brenda once more. She was smirking at me.  
>"Admit it Sagittarius, you're a weak, gutless person who cares about nothing. If you wanna be friends with losers, go ahead; you'll just become the weirdest person in school again." With that, she turned around and walked away. I stared after her, my hands clenched into fists. I was in a rage. How dare she insult my best friend! If I ever see her again, she's gonna be in some serious pain.<br>I turned to Macy, who was calming down.  
>"Hey, how you holding up?"<br>She sniffled.  
>"Pretty well. That hurt a lot though."<br>"Well, if she bugs any of us again, I'm gonna teach her a lesson." I slammed my fist into my open hand in order to get my point across.  
>"You seriously gonna beat her up?" Lindsay asked.<br>"Hell yeah! She wants to sabotage herself, then I'll let her; she'll have to deal with the consequences, though."  
>The bell rang, and I slung my backpack over my shoulders.<br>"Come on, let's get to class before anything else happens."  
>We walked over to our first class of the day, World History, and made an agreement to all get revenge on Brenda one day.<p> 


	4. Who is this?

"And so, Julius Caesar became the ruler of Rome..."  
>I slumped at my desk, tapping the end of a pencil on my notebook. Man, World History was BORING. I enjoyed math better than this stink-hole. We discussed the same thing every week: Rome, Rome, and more Rome, never even moving a mile outside of Rome. Not to mention the teacher, Ms. Bernadette, was terrible at teaching. She always looked bored, she was old as hell, and she always played with a nasty looking scar that would magically appear on some part of her body every day. I would always pretend that it was like a game: pick the most scars you could in one day and win a fabulous prize: a fresh, new band-aid. That woman produced scars every day.<br>So I sat there, bored out of my mind when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I slowly took it out of my pocket and looked up at Ms. Bernadette. She was busy picking some scar again, so I slid my phone open to see who texted me.  
>'One new message.'<br>There was no name, no number. Someone I don't know just texted me.  
><em>Who could've gotten my number?<em> I opened the message:  
><em>Hey there gigantor. Haven't seen u in awhile. Guess who happens 2 be in MIA right now. U better avoid me at all costs or else ull be srry.<em>  
>I reread the message again and again. Who the heck was this? And how did they get my number? I slid my keyboard out.<br>_Who is this and how did u get my #?_  
>After I hit send, I put my phone back in my pocket; Bernadette was done picking her scar. A few seconds later, I received another text message. I took my phone out and read the message.<br>_U rely 4got who I am? Well then, ull see me soon, after I get my sweet revenge from years ago!_  
>Now I was really scared. I wasn't sure if this person went to my school or if it was someone outside of school. Did I have a stalker? Was someone holding a grudge against me? I looked at the last part of the text: <em>ull see me soon, after I get my sweet revenge from years ago!<em>  
>What did I do years ago? Nothing really happened except the big family reunion when I was eight. Did it happen more recently, like in fifth grade?<br>Wait a minute. The first day of fifth grade. That was the day Brenda arrived at the school and made fun of my name. Chances are, she was the one who's been threatening me.  
>Before I could do anything else, the bell rang.<br>"Read chapters 15 and 16 in your textbooks tonight class, we have a big discussion on the Roman Empire tomorrow..." But she ceased talking when she found a new scar to pick.  
>I caught up with Lindsay and Macy outside the classroom.<br>"Man, Bernadette has more scars than she can count!" Lindsay gawked.  
>"Agreed. Her classes always go by the slowest." Macy agreed.<br>I was silent as I reread the threatening messages that were sent to me earlier.  
>"You ok Sage?" Lindsay asked.<br>"Hm? Wha-?" I jumped at the sound of her voice.  
>"Oh yeah, I'm fine; I've just been receiving these text messages that are creeping me out."<br>I showed them the texts that I'd received. Macy whistled.  
>"Jeez, who the hell would send threatening messages to you like that?"<br>"Looks like you've got a stalker on your hands." Lindsay pretended to hold a gun.  
>"But don't worry; Secret Agent 273 is here to stop all the stalkers in the world and bring peace and justice to the world!"<br>I chuckled nervously.  
>"I have a hunch it's Brenda, but then again, it could be anyone. I just don't want anyone to stalk me."<br>Macy read the texts again.  
>"Yeah, that kind of sounds like Brenda, but I'm not too sure. Why would she want to get revenge on something that she started?"<br>Man, I love how smart Macy is. She's at the top of our class and knows how to solve almost anything. She once solved a Rubix Cube in under five minutes before in sixth grade. We were all shocked.  
>"That's true. Let's wait till lunch and see if you're right."<br>"You gonna get to the bottom of it?" Lindsay asked.  
>"Yep, and I won't stop until I find out who's been threatening me."<br>We split up after that. Macy had acting lessons, Lindsay had singing lessons, and I had StreetDance lessons. StreetDance is a kind of dance/martial arts movement that involves jumping off of buildings and doing all kinds of dancing and martial arts moves. It's pretty hard, but I've mastered it, and it's pretty fun once you get used to it.  
>When I got to class, I changed into the required outfit: sweatpants, a tank top, toeless socks, and I put my hair up into a bun. Class began, and I started to jump up onto walls and do all kinds of flips and splits. I climbed up and down walls, flipped off benches, and slid down gutters. Every time I do this class, I zone everything out and placed myself into a quick beat. Every step I took corresponded with the beat. Because of this, I was quick and agile, and I was light on my feet.<br>When class ended, I changed back into my regular clothes and I took my phone out to check the time. I had two new messages from the person who's been texting me all day. I nervously opened up the first message.  
><em>Takin StreetDancing class huh? Well tht won't help u at all if I find u!<em>_  
><em>I opened the second message.  
>I just cant wait 2 see u. Jk. Better stay out of my way or else things will get ugly.<br>I bolted out of the classroom right when the bell rang and I bumped into Lindsay and Macy.  
>"Hey Sage! How was..." but she stopped when she saw me panting and pale.<br>"Sage? Are you all right?"  
>I slowly took out my phone and showed them the messages I had received. They stared at them in awe.<br>"That's it; that no good son of a bitch is gonna get it now." Macy started to storm off to find Brenda, but I grabbed her hand.  
>"Wait; we have no proof that she's the one sending the messages. I'll ask her during lunch when we see her next."<br>At that moment, I felt strong, yet gentle hands grab my shoulders.  
>"At least you get to see me now."<br>I knew that voice. That sweet, sweet voice that made my heart melt. I turned around and saw my boyfriend Dylan Hudson standing behind me. Dylan was the cutest boy in my grade and he was lucky enough to be my boyfriend. He had golden brown hair that came down to his ears and light brown eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate. He was taller than me, (which was a relief.) but just to the point where my eyes were slightly below his when we stood in front of each other. He had strong, muscular arms, (he was captain of the football and lacrosse team.) and a well developed six pack. His smile was perfect, and his voice was so soft and warm. We had been dating for about a year now, and I'm loving it. We had both promised to love each other forever, and we promised to go to UF together. We had our first kiss a few months ago at the movies, where we saw Super 8. I know that it's not the most romantic movie to share a first kiss at, but when two of the main characters held hands at the end, we leaned over and kissed for a good ten seconds. It was spectacular. Fantastic. Mind blowing. I loved that moment, and I'll never forget it.  
>I smiled at him.<br>"Hay baby." I kissed him on the cheek and Lindsay gagged.  
>"Hey, you're just jealous cause I've got a boyfriend." I laughed. Lindsay just shrugged.<br>"How's your day going babe?"  
>"Not so good; someone's been sending me threatening text messages all day and I have no idea who they are." I showed him my phone and he gasped.<br>"Don't worry. When I find whoever's been doing this, they'll be sorry they didn't."  
>"Babe, it's ok, maybe they'll stop after today..."<br>"No way. Anyone who tries to hurt my baby will have to go through me." And he gave me a hug that made me feel completely safe.  
>"Just promise me that you won't send him or her to the hospital." I whispered.<br>He chuckled.  
>"I promise."<br>The bell rang, and we headed off to math class. Fortunately, the school isn't too well organized when it comes to core subjects, and the math teacher, Mr. Casey, happens to suffer from insomnia. He fell asleep three minutes after discussing linear equations, and the whole class started to talk. At that moment, my phone started buzzing erratically.  
><em>Oh great, it's my stalker again.<em> I pulled out my phone and read the message.  
><em>Looks like someone better pack their bags, their life will be changed 4ever after 2morrow.<em>  
>I immediately put my phone back into my pocket and looked at Brenda, who was sitting a few seats in front of me. She had her phone out and it looked like she was messaging someone.<br>_That bitch!_ I screamed in my mind. She's been my stalker the whole time; Macy was right.  
>I tried to call whoever sent the message to see if Brenda really was the one who was texting me, but a message came up that said 'Error: No number.'<br>I groaned and put my phone back into my pocket. I rested my elbows on my desk and ran my fingers through my hair.  
>"I'm so fucking sick of this!" I muttered under my breath.<br>Just then, the bell rang, but Mr. Casey didn't wake up. We all slowly walked out of the classroom and went to our lockers to get our afternoon books and our lunch boxes if we brought them.  
>I furiously threw my morning books into my locker and grabbed my afternoon books. I shoved them into my backpack right as Macy and Lindsay came up to me.<br>"Did your stalker send another message to you?" Macy asked.  
>"Yep. This time, they were saying that I should get ready to leave Miami." I looked at Macy.<br>"You might be right about my stalker being Brenda; right after I got the message, I saw Brenda on her phone and it looked like she was messaging someone."  
>She shrugged.<br>"Hey, it was just a lucky guess."  
>Just then, Dylan came up behind us.<br>"Hey. You guys ready to grab lunch?"  
>"Yeah; but we might have just found out who's been sending those messages to Sage." Lindsay said.<br>"Really? Who?" It looked like he was ready to punch someone.  
>"We think it's Brenda." I replied.<br>"Right after I received a text from my stalker, I saw her looking at messages."  
>"Well then, what are we waiting for? I just saw her walk into the cafeteria! Let's go!"<br>We ran to the cafeteria and halted when we saw how crowded it was.  
>"Man, I've never seen so many people in here before!" Macy gawked.<br>"Where did they all come from?"  
>That's when I remembered.<br>"They're remodeling the Garden, so they asked everyone to eat indoors for the rest of this week." The Garden was basically an outdoor area with picnic tables where people ate lunch and hung out during free period.  
>We all groaned. How on earth could else find Brenda in this huge crowd? That's when I remembered the seating arrangements. The losers sat at the top right corner, the jocks sat at the bottom left corner, the nerds and burnouts in the bottom right and top left corners, and the popular students sat right in the middle.<br>"This way!" I called.  
>We hurried past people with lunch trays and lunch boxes to the middle tables where all the popular kids were sitting, with their fancy napkins spread across the table and their exquisite looking food set out before them. It wasn't long before we spotted Brenda laughing with her clique at a small table. I walked up behind her and folded my arms. Her clique noticed me, but she didn't.<br>"Hey Brenda!" I shouted at her.  
>She stopped laughing and turned around to look at me. She had a look of anger, disgust, and annoyance in her eyes.<br>"What do you want, Sagittarius?"  
>"Are you gonna stop sending me threatening text messages?"<br>"What are you talking about?"  
>"I'm talking about the messages you've been sending to me all day. I even saw you looking at some messages in math class ! How do you explain that?"<br>She sighed angrily.  
>"My God Sagittarius, you can sometimes be really stupid."<br>She pulled out her phone and showed it to me.  
>"I can't send any text messages because I went over my limit. It's been disabled since Monday." She tried to open up messaging, but a message came up that said, 'Error: this has been blocked by your wireless account owner.'<br>I stared at the message in shock.  
>"So then, what were you on during math class?" I asked weakly.<br>"That was my email; I use that until my texting issue is solved." She stuffed her phone away and sighed.  
>"Besides, I don't even have your number anyway. Never have, never will. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't send you any message, whether it be nice or not."<br>I couldn't even respond. All I could do was let out a little squeak of embarrassment. She wasn't my stalker, so it was probably someone I don't even know.  
>Brenda huffed.<br>"Are you happy that I'm not your stalker?"  
>I looked at her and nodded slightly. I was relieved that it wasn't her, but I was still worried as to who it was now.<br>"Thanks for... Telling me the truth..." I said breathless. As I turned around and walked away, I heard her call out,  
>"Now you can go sit with your fat ass friend and eat your heart out; literally!"<br>Everyone at her table started to laugh. My hands clenched up into fists and my eyes were burning with rage.  
><em>That son of a bitch...<em> I thought furiously.  
>Then, without thinking, I turned around and slammed my fist into her mouth. The impact knocked her out of her chair, and onto the ground, clutching her mouth in pain. Everyone at her table stared at me in shock. I looked at my hands and saw that the impact had split my knuckles. Blood was flowing from the cuts, but I didn't care. I was getting sweet revenge from earlier and just now.<br>"You don't look so slim yourself." I spat at her.  
>She angrily looked up at me, her mouth bleeding an intense amount of blood. She got up and lunged at me, and I started kicking and punching and screaming. A crowd had gathered around us, chanting "Fight! Fight!" My eyes were closed, but I was still fighting with every ounce of strength I had. I kicked, punched, and bit as hard as I could, and Brenda did the same. I pulled my leg back and thrust it forward as hard as I could. I collided with the side of her face and I heard a sickening crack. People around me gasped, but I payed no attention to them; I just continued fighting. After a few minutes, I felt strong hands grab me and yank me away. I was still fighting the air and my eyes were burning with rage. I was dragged out of the cafeteria and into the office, where Principal Daniels was sitting. He was a serious man who didn't like child splay in his school. He was very strict when it came to his students being well behaved and looking neat and tidy. I obviously wasn't any of the above: I had a black eye, bloody nose and mouth, scratches, cuts, and bruises were covering my body, and I had twisted my wrist. Not to mention I was covered in blood. When he saw me, he shook his head and sighed.<br>"Sagittarius Valentine, what have you gotten yourself into?"  
>I sank down into the leather seat. I could feel is icy gaze piercing my soul and straight into my heart.<br>"I got into a fight." I mumbled.  
>"A fight! Well, that's not something I expect you to do at all."<br>I kept my gaze on the globe in his room. It was positioned to Africa. I desperately wanted to move to Kenya now, with Principal Daniels giving me the death stare.  
>"Why were you and Brenda Gale involved in a fight?"<br>I sighed.  
>"Because she called my friend fat." I mumbled.<br>"I'm sorry?"  
>"He called my friend fat!" I nearly shouted. Once I quieted down, I sank back into the chair. I wish I hadn't said that; now he's gonna criticize me for my self control issues.<br>"She called your friend fat? Which one?"  
>"Macy Elkins." I said a bit clearer.<br>"Ah, Macy; yes, she's a bit overweight, isn't she? Well, I don't blame you for wanting to start a fight, but you need to know how to control yourself whenever these things happen."  
><em>Here we go.<em>  
>He leaned closer to me.<br>"Sage, look at me."  
>I slowly turned my gaze to his; his icy stare was now gentle and comforting.<br>"I want you to be happy in life; not just living off of violence. I'm going to have a firm talk with Brenda about what she said about Macy. What she said was wrong, and I don't blame you for wanting to stick up for your best friend; but you can't just start fights like this; Brenda probably broke her neck."  
>I sighed. I felt bad, but part of me on the inside felt proud. I had stuck up for my best friend, even if it meant getting seriously injured and seriously injuring someone else.<br>"You're still going to be punished for what you've done. I was thinking maybe a two day suspension, but I'll tell you what; you can spend the rest of today off. Clean yourself up, rest, catch up on any missing work, and come back tomorrow. I won't even mark you absent for today. How does that sound?"  
>I almost started laughing. Spending the rest of the day off? That wasn't a punishment, that was like paradise! But I nodded somberly, as if I needed a much deserved vacation.<br>"Just think about how to control yourself." He said, as he picked up the phone to call my mother.

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><p><strong>Ahh! The stalker makes its appearance!:D<strong>

**Also, I don't really think 'StreetDance' is real. Well, it does exist, but I don't know the real name for it:P**

**Next chapter up soon! xx**


	5. Let's heat things up

"Hello?"  
>"Hello, Mrs. Valentine? It's Principal Daniels, from the Miami School of Performing Arts. How are you?"<br>"I'm doing fine, thank you. Is something wrong with Sage?"  
>"Well, sort of. She's sitting right in front of me, in perfect health. There's been a little incident though."<br>"What happened?"  
>"Well, during lunch, she and another student, Brenda Gale, got into a fight."<br>"Oh my God! Is she alright?"  
>"Sort of. She has a black eye, a twisted wrist, and she's cut and bleeding all over the place. But they're all minor though. She's down in the clinic getting taken care of."<br>"How did this all happen?"  
>"Apparently, Brenda Gale called one of Sage's friends fat. I guess Brenda has called her fat before, because Sage just snapped after that."<br>"Jesus Christ. What's the punishment?"  
>"She's suspended for the rest of today. I want her to think about what she's done and to catch up on any missing work."<br>"Alright, I'll be there soon."  
>"I appreciate it."<p>

I sat on the little wooden cot in the clinic, my body burning with pain. My eye was swelling shut and throbbing erratically while my wrist felt all wrong. The nurse came back in with a little cast and slowly twisted my wrist to the proper position. There was a spark of pain and I tensed up.  
>"Just relax Sage, I'm only putting the cast on." She clipped the cast on my wrist and she let go to see if it fit alright. My wrist was throbbing and it felt as if a ton of bricks were pressed onto it. I winced.<br>"How long do I have to wear this?"  
>She sucked in air.<br>"I'd say about a month, give or take a couple of weeks, but it's a pretty bad sprain; I'm not too sure when you can actually take it off."  
>I was stunned. A whole month? I couldn't wait that long! I'd rather not wear a cast and get an infection than wear one of these things! Ok, maybe I would rather wear a cast than get an infection, but I hated wearing these things; and that's the truth.<br>Just then, my mom burst through the doors. She let out a cry when she saw me and ran up to me.  
>"Sage Valentine! Look at you! You're a mess!" she lightly touched my eye.<br>"Tsk. Look at your eye! Just wait till your father sees this; he'll have a fit!"  
>I sighed. I didn't want my dad to be a part of this. When he does, he can get pretty physical. Once, when I was three, I had a birthday party at my house and a little boy took my money. It was a fairly small amount, probably only three dollars, but when my dad found out, he had a fit. He literally went to this kid's house and took three bucks out of his piggy bank. The kid was hysterical, the parents were furious, and I was happy that I had my money back. I don't know what happened next, but my dad says that he avoided getting into serious trouble.<br>So as you can see, I'm trying to spare Brenda's life.  
>My mom thanked the nurse and we headed out into the hallway. My mom dragged me to my locker almost by my hair.<br>"Get your stuff." She demanded in a firm voice.  
>I immediately opened my locker and grabbed my backpack hastily, because my mom was starting to get pissed. Yes, my dad is very strict, but if you piss off my mom, she can get pretty tough. She starts screaming I'd you don't do things the way she wants you to, and if you don't go fast enough, then she'll probably start letting loose a string of explicits. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, but sometimes she can be really oversensitive.<br>We hurried out to the car and I slammed the door shut. My mom opened her door and glared at me.  
>"Don't slam your door." She growled.<br>I didn't respond, all I did was look out my window. We drove off and I looked at all the buildings whizzing past my window. The afternoon sun was reflected off the windows, blinding me with a bright light. I rubbed my eyes and looked ahead, still ignoring my mom.  
>She sighed.<br>"Sage, I don't understand why you would do such a thing. You've never been this violent before; what's gotten into you?"  
>"Didn't Principal Daniels tell you? Brenda called Macy fat for the second time today, and I snapped when she did it at lunch."<br>"Brenda Gale? The girl who made you change your already beautiful name? I don't understand why you just can't ignore her."  
>"Because mom, she's a real bitch."<br>"Sage! Watch your language!"  
>"No mom, I won't. She's a bitch, and you know it! You told me that you hated her an thought she was self centered! I'm only speaking the truth and you know I am! She's a self centered bitch!"<br>My mom slammed the brakes and I went flying forward into my seatbelt. We were sitting in our apartment's parking garage. She turned the car off and stared at me.  
>"Sage, I had to wake up early to come get you from school. I have to work extra long hours tonight because of my date tomorrow, and I had to spend an hour of precious sleep in the principal's office being told that my daughter was involved in a fight and was beaten up! I don't care whose fault it is or who started it. I don't care. But if you want to act like a smart ass when I try to have a conversation with you, then go ahead; you'll just have to deal with the consequences later on."<br>She unbuckled her seat belt and left the car while I sat there, speechless. I had ruined my mom's day, my day, and possibly Brenda's day. My mom was right about facing the consequences later, when my dad hears about this, I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble. I'll have to think of an excuse when I get to my room, as to why I would do such a thing to someone else.  
>I got out of the car and walked with my mom to the main lobby. Derek wasn't at the front desk anymore, his shift must have ended a while ago.<br>We rode up the elevator in an awkward silence before we arrived on the fourteenth floor. We walked down the blood red carpeted floors to room 1632 and we walked inside. I dragged my backpack on the ground all the way to my room.  
>"Wait in your room until your father gets home." My mom called after me.<br>"No need to tell me that." I mumbled to myself. I went to my room and slammed my door shut. I turned around and slid down to the floor. My life was slipping away before me, and I don't even know how to stop it. I have a stalker, I got into a fight, I'm being threatened, I don't even know what to do. I got up and walked over to my bed. I collapsed into my soft, purple bed sheets and I buried my face into my pillow. I let out a scream of anguish and turned back over. I stared at my ceiling fan and followed one of the oscillating blades as it spun around and around. I got dizzy after five minutes, so I looked out my window onto the balcony. I saw seagulls drifting lazily in the air and the waves from the ocean lapping the shore of the beach. I loved Florida so much; I never want to leave it. I love the lowlands, the mild winters, the warm sea water, the many theme parks, it was like paradise. I had tons of friends whom I never wanted to leave, and all the camps I do during the summer were the best ever. I decided to look up more info on Florida, so I pulled out my sky blue Dell laptop, turned it on, and looked up Florida on Bing. I spent the rest of the day looking up facts and photos of Florida when I heard a knock on my door.  
>"Sage, your father's home. Come out for dinner."<br>I slammed my laptop shut and walked out of my room to the dining room. My parents were already sitting there, waiting for me.  
>'Oh great, it's discussion time.'<br>I sat down and ate my dinner: paste with red sauce and tiny meatballs. I forked some noodles into my mouth when my father cleared his throat.  
>"Sage, your mother told me about what happened today."<br>"Hmph." I took a sip of my Sun Drop and twirled my pasta around my fork.  
>"Why did you start a fight?"<br>"I didn't start a fight!" I shouted, slamming my fork against my plate.  
>"Sagittarius! Don't shout!"<br>I cringed when I heard my real name. I was starting to get a bit annoyed.  
>"Brenda called my friend fat! Wouldn't you be mad if someone said that to you or a friend?"<br>"Yes, I would. But I wouldn't start a fight over it; I would just calmly tell that person to stop teasing that person and to please be nicer to someone else's feelings."  
>"Yeah well, that's because you're Mister Goody Two-Shoes."<br>He slammed his fist on the table.  
>'Just like this morning.'<br>"Sagittarius Valentine! Stop being so rude!"  
>My anger suddenly exploded.<br>"Stop calling me Sagittarius! I don't like being named after the dead grandma I never even knew!"  
>The whole table quieted down. My mom looked horrorstruck and my dad stared at me.<br>"You found out about your grandma Sagittarius?" He said quietly.  
>"Hell yeah I found out! I found out five years ago actually!" I turned to my mom who was pale.<br>"I can't believe you lied to me! Why couldn't you just tell me the truth?"  
>"I..I just..." She stammered.<br>"Well, I'm sick and tired of being called Sagittarius. Either you two call me Sage or I'm gonna leave this place and walk all the way to Jacksonville!"  
>I pushed my chair away from the table and stormed into my room. I flopped onto my bed and opened my laptop, right when my phone started ringing. I took it out and saw that it was Lindsay calling me. I quickly calmed down and answered.<br>"Hey Lindsay."  
>"And the award for the toughest chick in tenth grade goes to...Sage Valentiiiiine!" Lindsay called into the phone. I chuckled, and I heard Macy laughing on the other line.<br>"Is this a three way call?"  
>"Yep." Macy chimed.<br>"What happened after you left the cafeteria?"  
>"I went to Principal Daniels' office where he said I had to take the rest of today off. That's more like a relief than a punishment."<br>"Dude, right after you left, an ambulance came." Lindsay said.  
>"You broke her neck, dude! You're gonna be soooo busted!"<br>"Yeah well, I already am." I sighed.  
>"Your parents pissed off at you?"<br>"Beyond. I also told them that I found out the true meaning of my name."  
>"Really?" Macy asked.<br>"What is it?"  
>So I told them the story of discovering the box on fifth grade, finding my dead grandma, and keeping it a secret for the past five years. There was silence on the other two lines.<br>"You guys there?"  
>"You were named after your dead grandma?" Lindsay shouted after seconds of silence. I pulled my phone away from my ear.<br>"Dude! That's like, social suicide if anyone else finds out about that! Especially Brenda!"  
>"I know." I sighed.<br>"Speaking of Brenda, has your stalker been texting you?" Macy asked.  
>"No, I haven't gotten a text in awhile; I guess he or she gave up on me."<br>"That's good." Lindsay called something out to her mom then came back on.  
>"Sorry guys, I gotta go; my mom wants me to feed Humphrey. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"<br>"I gotta go too. I need to eat dinner now: steamed veggies with a gluten free biscuit!"  
>Lindsay gagged and hung up, leaving just me and Macy.<br>"See you tomorrow Macy."  
>"Yeah yeah." She smirked, annoyed by Lindsay's rudeness.<br>"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me when Brenda said that about me. Even though it got you suspended, it means a lot to me."  
>"Hey, that's what friends are for."<br>"See ya tomorrow." She said.  
>I hung up and put my phone on my dresser. I went into my bathroom and stripped off all my clothing, then I turned on the shower. I waited until I saw steam rolling off the ceiling before I stepped in, and I turned the heat up higher when I closed the curtain. The hot water stung my bruised and battered skin, but it felt nice. My wrist felt better and I could see out of my bruised eye, but I knew to would still look bad tomorrow. After washing my hair with mango shampoo and conditioner and washing my body with a watermelon scented soap, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body, my dark blue and green hair clinging onto my body, I rubbed the towel in my hair until it was dry and I dried off my body before I saw myself in the steam covered mirror. I wiped away some steam and stared at my body. I looked worse than I thought. My eye was a deep purple and the cuts on my body looked bigger than before.<br>'What am I turning into?' I thought in despair.  
>I dried off and brushed my teeth before I opened my door with a cool blast of air. I reached for my phone on my dresser, but found a note instead.<br>_All electronics are confiscated until the end of the week._  
>I wanted to scream. I bit my pillow and screamed my lungs out. Now I was really pissed. How was I going to talk to my friends after school? I couldn't go to their houses, they lived too far away. I threw on my pj's and got under my covers. I turned my lamp off and looked out towards the setting sun. I watched it disappear behind a large building and I sighed to myself.<br>'I hate my life.' I thought to myself before I drifted off into a deep sleep.

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><p><strong>Oooooo, Sage is pretty kick ass!:p Don't worry, the action's gonna start pretty soon! xx<strong>


	6. Home alone

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while guys! School has been so incredibly busy:/  
><strong>**If you find some minor spelling errors, I apologize, I wrote this thing on my iTouch:)  
>Get ready guys, things are getting even better! xx <strong>

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><p>That night, I dreamed that I was on a big boat in the middle of the ocean. There weren't any waves, any breezes, and just warm sunlight overhead. It was relaxing.<br>Then, I turned around and saw Brenda sitting on the edge of the boat. She had a cast around her neck and she stared at me with cold eyes.  
>"Sagittarius, look what you've done..."<br>Her voice sounded eerie and far off. I nervously took a step closer to her.  
>"B-Brenda? Is y-your neck ok?"<br>"Why don't I show you right now?" She slowly unclipped the cast from her neck and I watched in horror as her head fell off her body and rolled to my feet. Her glazed eyes stared up at me with no emotion.  
>"You've killed me...killed me..." Her mouth was still moving. I screamed in terror and ran to the far side of the boat.<br>Pretty soon, the waves started picking up and the wind almost knocked me overboard. I looked up and saw my parents staring at me, a look of fear in their faces.  
>"Sage, why are you so violent?" My mom whispered.<br>"I'm not violent!" I screamed. My dad came up to me and slapped me. I felt no pain as his hand made contact with my face.  
>"Don't scream at your mother!" He screamed at me.<br>"This is all a dream, this is all a dream..." I assured myself.  
>"This isn't just any dream." A deep voice said to me. I looked up and saw a dark figure looming over me. I couldn't see his face, but I could see his mouth. He grinned at me.<br>"It's a nightmare."  
>He picked me up and carried me to the side of the boat. I tried desperately to struggle and scream, but I couldn't move. It was as if I was made of lead. I stared out into the ocean which had turned into a sea of churning blood. I looked up at the attacker and whispered,<br>"Who are you?"  
>He laughed.<br>"You'll find out soon enough."  
>When he tossed me overboard, I screamed. I continued to fall, as if there were nothing beneath me. It was just an empty void with no end.<br>After what seemed like an eternity, I landed on something hard, and I was jolted out of my sleep. I was on my floor, wrapped in my sheets and sweating like crazy. My turquoise-emerald hair was sticking to my face as I unwrapped myself from my sheets and put them on my bed. The sun was well up in the sky and I looked at my alarm clock: 9:35.  
>9:35! Holy crap, I was LATE!<br>I stumbled out into the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of cereal. As I sat down to eat, a note caught my attention.  
><em>Sage,<em>_  
><em>_I called the school and told them that you weren't feeling well today and that you were spending the rest of the day off. Don't bother getting dressed. I want you to think about yesterday and how you can make it better.__  
><em>_Love, mom._  
>I choked on my cereal. She called the school? When? It must've been last night while I was in the shower. I was stunned. Although I was glad that I was staying home from school today, I was pretty pissed that she did that. I promised Lindsay and Macy that I would be in school today. What were they gonna do when they find out that I'm not coming?<br>My mom was still working on her shift, so I went back into the kitchen and opened one of the top cabinets. I reached into the way back and pulled out a big bin filled with electronics. Whenever my parents took my electronics from me, they always hid them in the same spot every time. They would never know that I would take them out and use them; I always put them back before they would even know.  
>I searched through the bin and pulled out my phone. It was still on, and I had five missed calls from Lindsay, all five minutes old. Yipes.<br>I dialed her number, then paused. It was 9:40, so she would be in...free period. Perfect.  
>I pressed the call button. It rang for a few seconds before she picked up.<br>"WHERE ARE YOU!" Was the first thing she said to me. ('Said' would be too much of an understatement, more like 'screamed to me.')  
>"Sorry man, my mom called me in sick today. She wants me to think about what I did yesterday."<br>"Well, Brenda's in school. She has a cast on her neck AND arm! Dude, you're so fucked."  
>I groaned. This wasn't going too well.<br>"Any rumors going around?"  
>"Yeah; some people think you've dropped out after what happened yesterday. Most of them think you're a total jerk. It's getting out of hand."<br>I let out a scream of anguish.  
>"God dammit!"<br>"Hey, don't feel bad. Maybe this'll all blow over by tomorrow."  
>I heard a bell ringing in the distance.<br>"Hey, I gotta go; it's time for improv class. See you tomorrow?"  
>"Yeah, definitely." I was getting a headache from all the stress of yesterday and today.<br>We hung up, and I grabbed a Tylenol from the medicine drawer. Man, my life is officially over. People were starting to hate me, Brenda probably wanted me dead, this was just a giant snowball effect.  
>My phone started buzzing in my hand. I looked down and saw that my stalker was texting me again. I opened the message:<br>_U kno, I can't wait to go dancin 2nite._  
>Dancing? I wasn't going anywhere tonight, but my parents were...<br>Wait, could this be my mom or dad? Nah, they were the ones who took my phone away. They couldn't have texted me. Unless they know I have my phone...  
>I snapped out of my thoughts when the front door handle jiggled. My mom was home!<br>I stuffed my phone back into the bin and I shoved the bin back into the shelf. I sat back down at the table and continued eating my cereal when my mom came in. She looked exhausted as she tossed her keys onto the island in the kitchen. I didn't say anything; I just continued to eat my cereal. When I heard the door to her room close, I dumped the rest of my cereal into the sink and went back into my room. There was absolutely nothing to do. I thought staying home from school would be fun, but it was actually as boring as hell. I went into my closet and pulled out my sparkly blue and green electric guitar and sat back down on my bed. It needed some tuning as I hadn't played it in a while, and when I finished, I started to play _She's a Rebel_ by Green Day.  
>"She's a rebel, she's insane." I lightly sang along. That song could easily relate to me, as I was becoming a rebellious teenager; breaking a girl's neck, coloring my hair, I was obviously not a little girl anymore.<br>I played my guitar all day, even practicing on a Sonic the Hedgehog tribute that I've been working on for months, when I heard the front door open. My dad was home, and I looked at my clock: 6:00.  
><em>Is it seriously six already?<em> I thought in despair. Today was just one of those lazy days where I stay in my pj's all day and do nothing. Well actually, I did touch up on my guitar skills, but that's all I did today.  
>I listened as my parents turned the TV up in their room as they got dressed. That's the reason why they're normally late to dates and outings; they're always sidetracked by TV ads and shows.<br>I continued to strum my guitar and I listened to my parents frantically trying to find the right outfit to wear tonight. I heard my dad swearing as he tried to put on his tie. I couldn't help but chuckle; listening to my parents trying to get ready was always funny to listen to. They would burn themselves with curling irons, get twisted in their outfits, and even trip and fall. Screw TruTV, my parents getting ready was funnier than World's Dumbest.  
>My dad suddenly burst into my room, his hair a bit messy and his tie a bit crooked.<br>"We're leaving now." He said as soon as he caught his breath. I didn't say anything.  
>"I'll let you watch TV tonight. There's some Easy Mac in the pantry; use the microwave, not the stove. We should be back no later than midnight." he stared at me.<br>"Have you thought about yesterday?"  
>I solemnly shook my head. I was still pretty pissed at them for taking my electronics. Even though I could easily take them back, I was still upset. They thought I was the one who started the fight, when it was Brenda who started it. She was the one who called Macy fat, so my first instinct was to defend her. I don't actually mean to break her neck or arm, but it served her right.<br>My mom came running in; her red, strapless dress was a bit twisted and her hair was a bit poofy.  
>"Sage, we love you, but please, think about yesterday."<br>"Yeah yeah, whatever; just get out of here." I growled. I put my guitar down on my bed and scooted them out of my room.  
>"Ok, then please be in bed no later than ten thirty, and please, no violent TV shows."<br>"I know! I'm not freaking five years old!" I shouted.  
>"We love yo-" But I had already slammed the door in their faces. I leaned my head against the door and sighed. I didn't mean to push my parents out the door, but I'm so fed up with them. I just wish they would leave me alone sometimes.<br>I turned around and faced my apartment room. I had the whole place to myself for five hours. So much to do, so little time...  
>First, I turned the TV on to TruTV, where an episode of Cops was finishing up. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a box of Easy Mac and followed the instructions. I poured the noodles into a big glass bowl, added two cups of water, heated it in the microwave for about five minutes, then I added the cheese sauce. That was always my favorite part of the meal, the artificial cheese. When I finished squeezing the thick orange mixture into the bowl, I took some scissors and cut open the bag, where some of the cheesy remains were stuck. I started to eat it with a spoon, I'm that addicted to that stuff. I stirred the cheese sauce in the bowl, then I just grabbed a fork, sat down on the couch, and ate it right out of the bowl. Normally, my parents would make me put it into a smaller bowl, but my parents weren't home now; I could eat it however I wanted to.<br>World's Dumbest Criminals came on, and I shoveled a forkful of cheesy noodles into my mouth.  
>"Oh man, this is gonna be good." I said, noodles still in my mouth.<br>For a whole hour, I laughed my ass off as I watched some pretty stupid criminal wannabes try to rob stores or banks and fail miserably. I loved this show, but my parents hated it. They thought it was inappropriate and 'poisonous' for a child's mind. Well, I'm not a child, so I guess it was fine for me to watch it, even though it could be a bit inappropriate.  
>The show ended at eight, so I went back into my room and onto my balcony. There was a warm sea breeze and I heard the waves crashing against the shore. The white foam would float lazily on the shore before another wave would wash it away. There was a faint orange glow from the setting sun and it fit perfectly with the sweet calypso music that was floating lazily in the air. I watched from a clearing as the sun set below the horizon, leaving an orange and pink afterglow. There was some cheering, and the music changed from sweet calypso to rapid Latino and some modern techno. People were shouting and laughing in the streets as they danced to the music. I smiled. I loved Florida so much. I was born and raised here. I know my way around like it's the back of my hand. I have tons of friends, tons of activities to do, and all sorts of in-home trips I could take. It was like paradise here, I couldn't imagine myself living anywhere else.<br>I stepped back inside and went back to the TV. I continued to eat my Mac and Cheese and watch World's Dumbest until I ran out of noodles and the shows ended. I got up and made myself some popcorn before I changed the channel to the Travel Channel, one of my other favorite channels. I watched Man Vs. Food, which made me scarf down my popcorn. The sky slowly darkened, and the lights and clubs of Miami came to life. I could hear the 'boom-boom' of the clubs' music and I could see the reflections of the lights on the living room wall. It was nine thirty now, and my parents would probably be finishing up their dinner now, so I turned the TV off and took a shower. The swelling in my eye was completely gone now, but it was still pretty bruised, and my wrist was feeling a little better. I stepped out of the shower and dried off, making sure that I was extra careful with my eye and my wrist. I brushed my teeth and slid on some clean pj's before I stepped out into my room. I put my guitar back into my closet and slid under the warm, soft covers. I turned my lamp off and stared into the darkness. I turned around in bed and looked outside towards the balcony. Seeing all the lights...it made me feel more relaxed about my current situation. Things would get better soon; I knew they would.  
>"Life isn't so bad after all." I smiled to myself. Then, while watching the twinkling lights of the city, I drifted off onto a deep sleep.<p> 


	7. A tragic turn

I was jolted out of my sleep by the sound of sirens. Hearing how loud they were, I figured that they were about a block away or so. I looked at my alarm clock: 3:30. My parents were definitely home by now; in fact, they've been home for maybe three hours now. I figured it was someone who had one too many drinks tonight. The sirens died down, and I managed to drift off to sleep again.

I slowly opened my eyes. It was grey and dull outside, with tiny drops of rain falling onto the table. The clouds were thick and dark, I've never seen clouds these dark before. I looked over at my clock: 7:05. Why didn't my parents wake me up for school? Maybe they're still tired from last night and expected me to turn my alarm clock on. Oh well, I'll get up now anyway.  
>I got out of bed, got dressed, washed my face, put my makeup on, and walked out to the kitchen. The apartment room was eerie quiet; I didn't even hear my dad snoring. They must be knocked out.<br>I poured myself a bowl of cereal and ate quietly to myself, half expecting my parents to walk out into the kitchen. When I finished my breakfast, they still weren't up yet, so I went back into my room, brushed my teeth, grabbed my backpack, and put my Phoenix necklace on, some dried on blood covering the gem. I washed it off and walked out to the front door. I paused, then I went into the kitchen and grabbed my phone from the bin. I walked back to the front door and turned around.  
>"Mom? Dad? I'm leaving for school now." I called out into the quiet apartment. There was no response, not even a noise, so I opened the door.<br>"Okay, I'll see you guys later!" and I closed the door. I went downstairs with a bad feeling in my gut and as I walked through the lobby, Derek called me over.  
>"Did you hear that there was a huge shooting out by Club Champ? Actually, shooting doesn't even begin to describe it! I heard there were flamethrowers and daggers involved!"<br>My eyes went wide. Not from the flamethrowers and daggers, but from the location.  
>"Club Champ? My parents were there last night!"<br>"I know sport, but don't worry, I'm almost positive I saw your parents walk back into the building well before the shooting."  
>I breathed a sigh of relief.<br>"Thank God." I looked at the giant clock hanging in the front lobby.  
>"Yikes, I gotta go. I'll catch you later!" I called as I ran out the door.<br>It was freezing cold outside. I almost regret wearing a miniskirt with a dainty blouse and a thin jacket with flip flops. But in Florida, it typically got warmer by the afternoon.  
>I shivered as I waited at the bus stop. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I hoped that it would be my parents. Wait, no, that would be a bad thing, but it would be good at the same time.<br>I took my phone out and saw the familiar no name or number on the message.  
>"Oh great." I mumbled to myself. I opened the message.<br>"Ahhh, tht felt good. Cnt wait 2 c u again."  
>What the hell is wrong with this guy? What is he talking about?<br>"Well look who it is!"  
>I turned and saw Lindsay in her striped and Macy with her nutritional breakfast. Lindsay gave me a big hug.<br>"Just the kick ass chick I was looking for!"  
>I chuckled.<br>"Hey you guys."  
>"We missed you yesterday. Why did you have to stay home?"<br>"Lindsay didn't tell you? My mom called me in sick so I could 'think about what I did on Wednesday.'"  
>"Oh. That sucks."<br>The bus pulled up and we piled over to our regular seats. People kept staring at me, go figure. I had a black eye and I almost killed a snobby little bitch.  
>"How's your eye?" Lindsay asked as soon as the bus started moving.<br>"And your wrist?" Macy added.  
>I looked down at my wrist.<br>"They're getting better. Still hurt, but a lot better."  
>"That's great." Macy looked up, a look of realization in her eyes.<br>"Oh yeah! Did you guys hear about that massacre by Club Champ?"  
>"Yeah, my friend Derek told me this morning." I really didn't want to talk about this; it made me think that my parents were there only three hours before it happened.<br>"Weren't your parents at Club Champ last night?" Lindsay pointed out.  
>Perfect. Just perfect.<br>"Yeah, they were." I said weakly.  
>"But they got home three hours before the whole incident. They're fine."<br>"Did they tell you they were fine?"  
>"No, they weren't awake when I woke up; they must be really tired after last night."<br>"Or, they could've been there when the shooting happened..."  
>That's it. Now I was really pissed.<br>"My parents aren't dead, they're just tired. They had a long night, and they slept in late. Wouldn't you be tired after a long night of dancing?" I snapped at Lindsay.  
>She stared at me in shock. I've never yelled at Lindsay before, and she always thought I was the tough, yet gentle type. I've never showed my bad side to her. (Well, other than the incident on Wednesday.)<br>Lindsay took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. Then she said something that I didn't expect her to say.  
>"You're right Sage; I'm sorry I assumed your parents were victims in last night's shooting. I didn't realize that they would be tired when they got home, so I just assumed that they were dead. I'm sorry; next time, I'll think before I speak."<br>I was blown away. Macy looked dumbfounded too. Lindsay hardly ever apologized for anything, shed just shrug and let it go; but this was a heartfelt apology, and I could tell that she meant it.  
>"Apology accepted." I said, giving her a pat on the back.<br>So she went back to chattering about random subjects and what not when someone shouted,  
>"Look! It's Club Champ!"<br>We all turned towards the windows where dozens of police cars were scattered, their blue and red lights flashing. Portions of the sidewalk were torched and bullet holes were sprinkled all over the building. I even caught a glimpse of ruby red blood all over the sidewalk. I could have sworn I saw a familiar blue sapphire necklace, but I must have been mistaken. I felt queasy.  
>"Yeesh, it looks more like a massacre than a shootout." Macy said in awe.<br>I sat there quietly, hoping I wouldn't lose my breakfast. It was hard to believe my parents were there just hours before the shooting.  
>We arrived at school a few minutes later and we hopped off the bus into the freezing cold weather. Now I REALLY regret wearing a skirt, I was freezing my ass off.<br>It was warm in the school, and I could feel my blood start to flow in my veins. As I approached my locker, people kept smirking at me and giving me sideways glances. They were obviously mad about what I did to Brenda, even though they didn't see the damage she did to me. I ignored them, and I continued on with my day without taking notice of their stares.  
>The day went by slowly. Every class was only 50 minutes, but it felt like 500. The lectures went on and on for hours on end, and it seemed as if I was trapped in this school forever. I caught a glimpse of Brenda only once, she had a thick cast around her neck and a cast on her arm that started at her fingertips and ended at her shoulder. She was surrounded by a crowd of people who were catering to her every need. I chuckled at the sight of her. Man, I really don't know my own strength.<br>The final bell finally rang, and me, Lindsay, and Macy decided to walk home from school and take the shorter way instead of the longer bus ride. Besides, the bus passed Club Champ, and I really didn't want to think about that place right now.  
>It was three in the afternoon and it was still freezing cold. The clouds were darker and thicker than ever before. Freezing drops of rain started to lightly fall from the sky, and to make things worse, a strong, cold wind started to blow against us. He had to huddle together just to fight the wind and stay warm.<br>"Jesus, it's like the new ice age out here!" Lindsay cried.  
>"How cold is it?" Macy shouted.<br>Shivering, I took a small keychain out of the front pocket of my backpack. It was a compass and a thermometer all in one; I bought it during my family's summer trip to Arizona back when I was in third grade.  
>I tried to keep my hand steady as I stared at the falling needle. It stopped at 29 degrees.<br>"I-it's 29 d-d-degrees." I shivered.  
>"What? Are you sure?" Macy asked.<br>"This thing is 100% accurate. It hasn't lied about the temperature in years."  
>We continued our frozen trek to a large neighborhood. Lindsay and Macy lived in the same neighborhood, but in different subdivisions. They said goodbye and turned down their street, and I continued on against the wind and rain to my apartment.<br>It was the red and blue flashing lights that caught my attention. As I walked closer to them, there were four police cars parked outside my building as well as two large U-Haul trucks. What was going on? Was someone moving while there was a break-in? Did they finally catch Mr. Tom in apartment 392 after he stole the TV sets? This was a rare sight to see.  
>I walked inside the lobby where I saw two police officers talking to Derek. When he saw me, he gave me a sad, yet worked look. I could see tears forming in his eyes. Derek has never cried before, so what was wrong?<br>I went up the elevator to my floor and when I stepped out, I saw some men carrying boxes out of my room. Worried and confused, I ran to my room and opened the door just as a man walked out, carrying a box filled with photos and albums. My apartment room was completely empty, and men were carrying items from my room. They carried my guitar out, and one man almost dropped it.  
>"Be careful with that!" I cried.<br>"That thing is my pride and soul!"  
>Two police officers came out of my parents' room and glared at me.<br>"Can we help you?"  
>"Yes, I live here! What is going on?"<br>They both looked at each other, a look of realization on their faces.  
>"You must be Sage." one of them said, looking right at me.<br>"We worked with your mom down at the police station. She would tell us all about you." The second police officer squinted and looked at my eye.  
>"What happened to your eye there, sweetie?"<br>"I got into a fight." they raised their eyebrows at me, but I had no time for this.  
>"Where are my parents? Do they know about all this?"<br>They looked at each other again, then one of them bent down and looked me straight in the eye, his eyes filled with sadness.  
>"There was a deadly shootout at Club Champ last night. Your parents were the only two that were killed."<br>As if some crazy dentist had injected me with some insane amount of novocaine, my whole body went numb. My knees started shaking and they buckled out from underneath me. The world was swimming before my eyes and I tried to grab onto something to help me with my balance.  
>"Sage? Hey Sage, are you ok?" I could hardly hear the officer as my world slowly went black.<p> 


	8. Finding a new family

**Next chapter! I'll try as best as I can to upload sooner guys. I'm on my school's color guard team and we have practices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and we perform at football games every Friday. So please forgive me if I don't upload in a while!**

**xx**

* * *

><p>I slowly opened my eyes to see a bare concrete wall right in front of me. I was laying on a tiny little cot with a saggy mattress. I sat up, rubbing my throbbing temple.<br>_Was this all a dream? My parents COULDN'T be dead. They've been home for hours before the shooting. And where the heck am I?_  
>I turned around and saw heavy metal bars before I realized that I was in a holding cell.<br>_WHAT? I didn't do anything wrong, why were they locking me up?_ That's when I remembered telling the officers about the fight I had with Brenda. Were they locking me up because of a scuffle? I started shaking the bars.  
>"Hello? Is anyone there? Why am I being locked up? I'm a good kid, I swear! I can explain the fight and..."<br>An officer came around the corner and unlocked the doors to my cell.  
>"We're not locking you up, we were out of rooms to keep you in." He laughed.<br>"Come on, let's try to clear all this up."  
>I followed the officer down a long hallway to a small office with two leather chairs. I sat down in one while the officer sat down in a big leather chair in front of a computer.<br>"Now Sage, tell me your full name."  
>I writhed uncomfortably in my seat.<br>"Sagittarius Gemini Valentine." Man, I HATED that name now.  
>"My, that's a big name! When and where were you born and how old are you?"<br>"March 21, 1995 in Miami, Florida. I'm 15 years old."  
>The officer typed the information down on his computer. The tapping was starting to give me a headache. How much was he typing?<br>"Where do you go to school?"  
>"The Miami School of Performing Arts."<br>"What grade?"  
>"Tenth."<br>He tapped away some more, my ears ringing from the tapping.  
>"Alright. What I'm trying to do is find someone in your family who you can live with." He looked over to me.<br>"How many sibling does your dad have?"  
>"Just one, my Aunt Janice. She lives in Puerto Rico." I remember my Aunt Janice. She wanted to give me a pet boa constrictor when I was four, but my mom immediately refused.<br>"I'm afraid I can only send you anywhere in the continental United States. Territories of the US don't count."  
>"Oh." Thank God, my Aunt Janice was a bit crazy.<br>"Now, I have your mom's information up here, it says she has six brothers and sisters." Really? We only kept in touch with two or three.  
>"You have an Aunt Louise. Do you want to live with her?"<br>"I can't, she lives in Paris." Thank God too. She was little miss priss. She has a daughter Chanel and a son Jacque. Of course, my two cousins are extremely dainty, they refuse to even look at dirt. Channel was just a year younger than me while Jacque was two years younger than me. They made me sick.  
>"Ok, we'll cross her off the list." He continued to look for possible relatives.<br>"Ah, it says you have an Aunt Barbara who lives in Portland, Oregon."  
>Oh yeah, Aunt Barb and Uncle Jessie. They had a son Jessie Jr. (who refuses to be called junior.) who was 23. They were circus folk, and Jessie was a clown, which I particularly hate. He was crazy too, he once shot someone after they kept poking him. They were a definite no go.<br>"Nah; who else is there?"  
>"Let's see...you have an Uncle Elijah."<br>Uncle Elijah. He married a rich young lady, had two kids, then the lady took off. His two kids, Manny, who five, and Sandy, who's seven, have never seen a shower before. They're so covered with dirt, you can't even see their skin, and they reek of BO and garbage. They lived somewhere in the mountains of Mexico, thank God.  
>"He lives in Mexico."<br>"Alright. Umm...you have an Uncle Scott who lives in San Francisco."  
>Yes, I kept in touch with Uncle Scott. He's my favorite uncle, but he just recently became gay. He married another man, my Uncle Kevin, and they both freely show their affection for each other. Not that I'm against gay marriage, but it would kill me if I were seen in public with them.<br>"He...works all day, so I wouldn't be able to see him."  
>"Alright. Let's see, you have an Uncle Blade who lives in New York City."<br>Oh God no. Uncle Blade is a pure psycho. He and his wife had a son Dagger, (who the hell names their son 'Dagger?') then he murdered his wife when he turned three. Apparently, he was drunk, and he was arrested. His son is now somewhere in his early twenties and is getting in as much trouble as his father. They both break out of jail and continue to live their life of crime. Before I could say anything, he spoke up.  
>"Ah ah, hold on a second, it says here he's wanted for escaping prison and all sorts of different felonies. He's being scratched off the list for sure."<br>Thank God.  
>"Well, you have one more relative: your Uncle Ray."<br>Uncle Ray. Mom kept in touch with him the most. I remember him too. He was the nicer uncle out of all my other uncles and he's sent me presents on my birthday.  
>"Where does he live?"<br>He tapped away at his computer some more.  
>"It says here he lives in LA."<br>California? I thought he lived down here in Florida. He must've moved when I was little. Did he have any kids? I couldn't remember. I know he has a wife, my Aunt Catherine. I haven't seen them in forever.  
>"Well Sage, you have three options to choose from. Or you could just live in an orphanage. What's your pick?"<br>An orphanage? No way, I was NOT gonna live in an orphanage. I've read too many books and seen too many movies where they treat kids with disrespect. I'd rather live with my Uncle Blade than an orphanage.  
>"Ummm, I'll live with my Uncle Ray."<br>"Wonderful! I'll give him a call and let him know what's going on. In the meantime, make yourself at home."  
>I left the office and went back to my holding cell. The clouds were clearing up and I could see the sun setting over the ocean. The sky was tinted pink and the clouds were a pinkish grey. My life was changing. My parents were dead and I'm never going back to MSPA ever again. I never even got to apologize to my parents for what I've done. I felt horrible. And my friends, I'll never see them again. I'll have to make all new friends at an all new school. Everything was just changing in an instant.<br>A few minutes later, the officer came back to my room.  
>"Good news: your Aunt Catherine answered and said she would be happy to have you. I phoned your school and said that you'll be transferring to another performing arts high school, Hollywood Arts." I didn't say anything, I just stared out my window. He came over and sat down behind me.<br>"Hey, I know this is tough. It was so sudden, you didn't even get to say goodbye. But you'll make all new friends in an all new school. I think you'll do just fine."  
>He got up and looked at me one last time before he shut the door.<br>"Have a good night." He said as he shut the door.  
>The clouds have disappeared and the stars twinkled in the clear night sky. My dad told me that whenever someone died, a new star was added into the night sky. When I saw two bright stars shining over all the others, I shed a tear, thinking how they are now a part of the night sky.<p> 


	9. Guess who?

Cat Valentine sat on her bed, tapping away on her pink computer. She was running a light pink brush through her bright red hair. _Blow_ by Ke$ha was blaring from her computer and she hummed along, smiling as she tried to figure out her next update for .  
><em>I feel so happy! I wonder if they make happy pills. Mood: Happy<em>. She typed down onto her computer. She thought for a second, then she giggled. It was perfect! She clicked _post_ and watched her update pop up on the screen.  
>Caterina Hannah Valentine was born on March 21, 1995 at 9:55 PM in Los Angeles, California. She's 15 years old and she's in tenth grade at Hollywood Arts High School. She was named after her grandmother, and only she calls her Caterina. But her grandmother hated her and she always made her homemade fudge with nuts in it. Cat was allergic to nuts, so she was forced to watch her whole family eat the world's best fudge. She tended to live in her own little fantasy land with rainbows and red velvet cupcakes. (her favorite food.) She was also a ditz, and she wasn't the brightest person in the tenth grade, heck, the whole school. She was bipolar and always a level 10 emotionally. She has a brother, Cameron, who was completely insane. He does the most random things that could be life threatening, and Cat always wonders why her parents always stress about her. She has dark brown eyes, a beaming smile, and her best feature, her red velvet cupcake hair. It was a red as a red velvet cupcake and it came down to just above the bottom of her rib cage. She was small, only about five feet, but she could be pretty strong when she needs to be. She once punched a girl in the face and she bruised her nose. Cat was such an eccentric girl.<br>She switched over to her IM to see if anyone was available to chat. No one was online yet, and she sighed. Where were all her friends at? It was only dinner time and...oh wait, it's dinner time, everyone was probably eating dinner now. Cat giggled.  
>Just then, there was a knock on her door.<br>"Cat? It's mom, can I come in?"  
>"Sure mom!" Cat squealed. She shut the music off and her mom walked in. She sat down on her bed, teary eyed and pale.<br>"Mom? What's wrong?" Cat asked nervously.  
>"Cat, do you remember Aunt Donna and Uncle Chris?"<br>She thought for a second, then a light bulb went off in her head. Oh yeah! Aunt Donna and Uncle Chris lived all the way down in Miami. She hasn't seen them since the big family reunion when she was eight.  
>"Yeah, I remember them."<br>"Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news."  
>Cat's heart sank. She hated bad news. If only every news were good news...<br>"The bad news, the terrible, horrible bad news, is they were murdered last night."  
>Cat's heart shattered into a million pieces. Dead? No! That couldn't be! Cat hated death, she thought it was just horrible to see the one you loved lying there in a hard casket, motionless and cold. Tears were falling down her face.<br>"Cat? Are you ok?"  
>"No!" She bawled.<br>"My aunt and uncle are dead and I never got to see them in my whole life! Well, I have seen them before, but it was a long time ago. Well, not too long ago, but I was eight and I'm fifteen now so it's been seven years now, but it feels like it's been forever and-"  
>"Cat! Just relax! You haven't even heard the good news yet!"<br>"Oh yeah." Cat giggled. She loved good news more than she loves bad news. Who doesn't?  
>"The good news is, their daughter, your cousin Sage is coming to live with us!"<br>Sage. Sage. Who was Sage? She doesn't remember having a cousin named Sage. Was she a newborn? Was she an old lady? Man, she has NEVER heard of her before!  
>"Sage? Who's Sage? I don't remember having a cousin named Sage."<br>Cat's mom got up and grabbed a picture from the hallway, came back, and sat down on her bed. The picture was of two tiny brunettes giving each other a big hug. Cat squinted.  
>"Wait, that's Sage? I thought that was a friend!"<br>"Well, she just recently came up with the name Sage, her real name is Sagittarius."  
>Suddenly, Cat's face lit up. She remembered Sagittarius! She hadn't seen her in years! They shared the same birthday and they both had brown hair and brown eyes...well, now Cat has red hair and Sage probably has brown hair...but who cares? She loved Sage!<br>"Sagittarius is coming to live with us!" She squealed.  
>"I can't believe it! I can't wait to see her! Maybe she's really tall, or what if she's tiny? We could go to the movies together! And the mall! And maybe-"<br>"Cat, calm down! Sage is also transferring to Hollywood Arts with you, so you'll see her every day."  
>Another loud squeal from Cat caused her mom to get up and leave her room.<br>"Dinner will be ready in five minutes." She said, but Cat couldn't hear, she was still squealing over her cousin.  
>"I can't believe it! I'm going to see Sagittarius again! It's been so long! Well, it's only been seven years, but it feels like forever!" She pulled out her phone and went to text her friends, but she paused when she saw a new message flash across her screen. No name, no number. Confused, she opened the message.<br>_Just got back from MIA. Now im in LA. Better prepare 4 some bloody battles!_  
>Who was this? What do they mean by 'bloody battles?' Where's MIA? Cat immediately deleted the message.<br>"He probably had the wrong number." She giggled. She looked out towards the setting sky and hugged her owl pillow.  
>"I can't wait to meet you again Sagittarius."<p> 


	10. Goodbye Miami

That night, I had horrible dreams about my parents. I dreamed that I witnessed their brutal murder, and all I could do was watch in horror. I woke up sweating, then I cried myself to sleep.  
>When I woke up again, the thick dark clouds were covering the sky again. I had no idea what time it was, but I figured it was around nine AM. The officer came into my room as I was sitting up.<br>"Good morning Sage! How did you sleep?"  
>"Ok." Actually, I was terrified. I couldn't sleep all night.<br>"Good. Well, I bought you a plane ticket to LA that leaves today at one. All your stuff is on its way and should be in California by tomorrow. We should probably go to your school and empty your locker."  
>I nodded. This all just felt like a dream. Was I really moving to California? Was I really going to another school? It was just so hard to believe.<br>I got ready in the bathroom, this time I wore my jeans with a layered shirt and sweatshirt with my Nike high tops. I clipped my Phoenix necklace on, my only reminder of my parents, and walked out to the lobby where the officer was waiting for me. We got into the squad car right when it started to rain. I watched the raindrops streak across the window and disappear out of sight. I wish I was a raindrop, running away and just disappearing. My life was changing in an instant, and I can't fix it.  
>We arrived at the school and I walked down the dark hallways for the last time. I arrived at my locker, which was now just cold hard metal and no design, and took my stuff out. All my textbooks were gone, but I still had workbooks and supplies and pictures that I still needed to take out. I did it slowly, as if I wanted to shove my stuff right back into my locker. I loved this school, I bet the one in LA is filthy and filled with teens who don't even care about hygiene.<br>As I closed my locker for the final time, I heard a voice behind me.  
>"Sagittarius Valentine, I can't believe this is happening."<br>I knew that voice; that cold, icy voice. I turned around and saw Principal Daniels walk up to me. He put a bony hand on my shoulder.  
>"I see your eye is getting better. Keep putting ice on it." He looked right at me.<br>"I'm gonna miss you Sage. What has happened these past few days is truly horrible. But I know you'll make good friends in California and you'll be able to follow your dreams even more."  
>"Thanks, Principal Daniels." I really didn't mean it, I was glad that I was leaving him, he always creeped me out.<br>"Good luck." He said. I turned and walked out the front door. The cold was seeping through my clothes and chilling my bones. As I got into the squad car, I looked back at the school that I've been going to for my entire life. I cried silently, my tears warming my numbed face.  
>My phone started to vibrate, and I pulled it out. It was Lindsay. As much as I love her, I didn't really want to talk to her. I opened the message anyway.<br>'Hey Sage, come 2 my house ASAP. I have something 4 u.'  
>She had something for me? Oh well, I might as well get it from her, I'm leaving in an hour and a half.<br>"Excuse me, is it ok if you drop me off at my friends house? She has something for me."  
>He hesitated.<br>"Sure, but make sure it's fast, your flight leaves soon."  
>"Thanks. I'll be quick." I was gonna make sure of it, I couldn't be around my friends for long. If I do, then I won't be able to leave.<br>I guided him to Lindsay's neighborhood and we pulled up to a large, cream colored house. He dropped me off and I walked slowly up to her front door. Should I do this? I really didn't want to see anybody right now. I just want to get to LA quickly and quietly. But Lindsay said she has something for me, so the polite thing to do is accept it.  
>I knocked on her door, My hands numb from the cold.<br>"It's open!" A voice called from inside.  
>I opened the door slowly and came face to face with Lindsay, Macy, and Dylan. They were holding up a banner that said, "We'll miss you Sage!" All of them were teary eyed. I gasped at the sight of my friends and my boyfriend. They were giving me a surprise going-away party! I was at loss of words before I felt a tear roll down my cheek.<br>"You guys..." I said, getting all choked up. I ran over and gave them all a giant group hug.  
>"How did you guys find out?"<br>"It was on the news." Lindsay said, pulling away.  
>"They said your parents were the only ones who were killed. When I heard their names, I almost passed out."<br>I looked at her and sighed.  
>"Go ahead."<br>"What?"  
>"Go ahead and say 'I told you so.'"<br>Lindsay looked confused.  
>"Sage, what are you talking about?"<br>"Remember yesterday on the bus, you said that my parents were probably the ones who were murdered, and I said that they weren't? Well, you were right. Go ahead and say 'I told you so.'"  
>Lindsay looked at me, then she shook her head.<br>"Sage, I will NOT say that. This is very serious, and I was just kidding when I said that. It was rude of me, I know, but I won't make fun of you for something that I didn't actually mean."  
>I smiled and wiped a tear from my eye.<br>"Thanks Lindsay."  
>I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. I turned around and saw the officer poking his head in the doorway.<br>"Sorry to bother you guys, but Sage's flight leaves in an hour. We need to get going."  
>"I'll be right out." I called over my shoulder. I turned and gave Lindsay a hug.<br>"Lindsay, try not to get into trouble in school, and please don't take Macy's food."  
>She smiled.<br>"Aye aye, cap'n."  
>I went over to Macy and gave her a hug.<br>"Macy, stay on your diet and get plenty of exercise; I want you to be completely fit when I return to Florida on vacation."  
>"Sure thing." She chuckled.<br>Finally I went over to Dylan. I looked up into his dark brown eyes for a second before I threw my arms around him and gave him a big kiss. I didn't want to pull away, but I did after a few seconds.  
>"Dylan..." I whispered.<br>"Please promise me that you'll love me forever."  
>"I promise." He whispered to me.<br>"You are my only girlfriend, and you always will be."  
>I smiled. I'm gonna miss him so much. He was like the moonlight of my life. (Yes, that's from Last Night on Earth by Green Day.)<br>I pulled away and we all walked down to the squad car. I got in and opened my window.  
>"I promise I'll come down and visit you guys every chance I get."<br>We started to drive away slowly. I waved to my friends, tears flowing down my face, and I watched as they waved back before they disappeared behind some trees.  
>We continued to drive along the highway to the airport. I was listening to my iPod shuffle, and it was turned on to Green Day.<br>_Do you know what's worth fighting for? When it's not worth dying for?_  
>21 Guns. Kind of appropriate for this situation.<br>_Does it take your breath away, and you feel yourself suffocating?_  
>One day, I'm enjoying life here in South Florida, and the next, my parents are dead. I'm moving halfway across the country. I have to make all new friends. And I barely had enough time to take a breath.<br>_Does the pain weigh out the pride? And you look for a place to hide?_  
>I wanted to hide. The pain I was feeling was terrible and I couldn't hide anywhere because my emotions and feelings would probably kill me before anyone would ever find me.<br>_Did someone break your heart inside? You're in ruins._  
>Yes, my heart was broken, but no one broke it. Ever since I was born, there was an emotional crack in my heart that always got bigger whenever I got into fights or emotional breakdowns. The death of my parents completely shattered my heart, and now, I'm in ruins.<br>_One, 21 guns, lay down your arms, give up the fight. One, 21 guns, throw up your arms, into the sky, you and I._  
>The sight of the airport made my heart skip a beat. I wasn't ready to leave yet, there was still so much I wanted to do. I wanted to stay longer and just hang out with my friends one more time. I didn't want to make new friends, I wanted to keep my old ones!<br>We arrived at the airport, and the officer handed me my airline ticket.  
>"I'll walk you to your terminal." He said. Yeah, like that'll cheer me up.<br>I've only been to MIA (Miami International Airport) a few times in my life. Our trips to Arizona, Montana, and Colorado were all here, but those trips were a while ago. I hardly remember any of them.  
>The terminal was rather crowded, I guess people were starting to leave Florida and head back home to their chilly, possibly snowed in homes. We had to push our way through crowd of people before we arrived to Gate 26C.<br>"Now boarding Miami to Los Angeles nonstop." A voice blared over the loudspeaker.  
>"That's you." The officer said. He gave me a big hug.<br>"Good luck sport. Tell your aunt and uncle I said hi."  
>I didn't respond. I was terrified of riding on planes, I was always worried that they would be hijacked and we would crash into a building like 911. I knew it wouldn't happen with all the security shit that's been going on, but still, anything could happen.  
>I handed the lady my ticket and she tore it, eyeing me suspiciously.<br>"You here alone?" She asked me.  
>"Umm, no, my dad's already onboard. He went ahead of me." This was obviously a big fat lie.<br>"Alright. Enjoy your flight." She said, handing me my ticket. I nervously walked through the long hallway leading to the plane and I stepped onboard. A lady gave me a big smile.  
>"Enjoy your flight!" She said in a voice way too cheery.<br>"Thanks." I mumbled, but I didn't really mean it.  
>I made my way to seat 16A and sat down next to the window. It was facing the ocean, and I could see the tiny waves lap up onto the surface. I was really gonna miss the Florida oceans, so calm and warm. I would go there every chance I had.<br>That's when I remembered that today was Saturday. Derek and I would usually play games in the game room every Saturday night. I wondered what he was gonna do without me. He was probably gonna ask Samantha in room 627; she hated me, but really liked him. I couldn't stand to think about Derek playing games with that little brat. I just couldn't.  
>The last passengers boarded the plane, and the lame safety instructions began. Well, I thought they were important. What if there was an accident while in the air? What would we have to do? But I ended up getting bored about halfway through, so I secretly listened to my iPod. Of course, it was more Green Day, Tales of Another Broken Home. Perfect.<br>_To live, and not to breathe, is to die in tragedy._  
>The plane started moving. I watched the ocean scenery move slowly past me as we picked up speed.<br>_To run, to run away, to find what you believe._  
>The plane slowly started to go faster. I leaned back into my seat and took a deep breath.<br>_And I, leave behind, this hurricane of fucking lies._  
>The plane went faster and faster and I felt it rise up into the sky. I looked out my window and watched the ocean become larger and larger. Pretty soon, you could hardly see the shore, but you could see the vast ocean expanding for miles and miles. The ocean seemed to be calling my name and begging me to come back.<br>_Sage, Sage; come back. Don't leave us, come stay for a little bit longer._  
>But I couldn't. It was too late now; I was leaving my home possibly forever.<br>_You're leaving. You're leaving. You're leaving. Ah you're leaving home.__  
><em>Everything then disappeared behind the clouds. I leaned back in my seat, tears slowly falling from my eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so sorry guys! I've had no time to upload this week!<strong>

**Poor Sage. Her life will never be the same:(**

**Review! xx**


	11. Now I remember

The flight seemed to go on forever. An hour after takeoff, the sky cleared up, leaving me with a blast of pure sunshine. The sky was a clear blue and I could see puffy clouds in the distance. They kind of looked like cotton balls.  
>I was more relaxed about the flight, the people on board were mostly old people and families with small children. I highly doubt that there would be any terrorists on this plane.<br>"Would you like anything to eat?" I faced the flight attendant next to me.  
>"Yes, I would like some pretzels please."<br>"Certainly." She handed me a small bag of pretzels.  
>"Would you like anything to drink?"<br>"Coke, please."  
>She handed me the cold drink. I thanked her, and I took a sip. It went straight to my nose, and I sneezed. My eyes were watering and my nose was burning. Next time, I'll stick with water.<br>I had about four hours to kill, so I thought about life in California.  
>'Well, there are earthquakes, I know that.' I've never been in an earthquake, and I hope I'm never in one.<br>'There are mountains.' Ah, I love mountains. They make me feel so relaxed.  
>'There's the Pacific Ocean.' Yes, I would go swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, so I was really excited for the Pacific.<br>The more and more I thought about California, the more excited I became. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. And besides, I'll be with family. I can't wait to see my Aunt Catherine and Uncle Ray. But I could've sworn they have kids. I thought long and hard.  
>'Let's see: there's Chanel, Jacque, Sandy, Manny, Jessie, and Razor. I KNOW there's two more!'<br>I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little wallet filled with pictures. There was Jessie dressed like a clown, Sandy and Manny playing in dirt, Chanel and Jacque eating fancy food in a fancy restaurant, and Razor holding a dagger. I had one other picture of me when I was eight, and I was hugging a brunette. Who was this? Was this a friend? I had no idea I even had this picture.  
>I looked at another picture of me hugging an old lady and holding a bar of fudge in my hand. I chuckled.<br>'Oh yeah, the best fudge maker in the world: Grandma Caterina.'  
>Suddenly, my heart stopped. The wallet slipped through my hands and fell silently on the floor. My whole body went numb.<br>"Caterina..." I suddenly knew who my other two cousins were: Caterina Valentine and Cameron Valentine.  
>Oh my God. Forget crazy, this girl is insane. At the big family reunion, she ate all the red velvet cupcakes that she made and she went on a huge sugar high. She was a ditz, that's what she is. And Cameron, oh my God, he should be locked up in a mental asylum. Screw that, they'd probably kick him out. He was pure NUTS. He chased a police officer at the reunion and actually pulled his pants down. It was funny until the police threatened to arrest us all if we didn't stop him. He's just pure insanity.<br>No, I can't go anymore. Please let me live with someone else! Maybe if I ask them to turn the plane around, then I'll run back to the police station and tell them that I want to live with my Uncle Scott.  
>"Excuse me." I said to the flight attendant.<br>"Is it possible to turn this plane around and head back to Florida?"  
>She looked at me for a second, then she burst out laughing.<br>"Don't be silly, we're flying over Kansas right now, we can't turn this plane around now."  
>She walked away laughing, and I sank back into my chair.<br>"I don't wanna be crazy, I don't wanna be crazy..." I kept reminding myself. Hey, that was seven years ago, maybe they've all matured. At that thought, I relaxed. Maybe my life will be much easier than what it was back home.  
>I picked up my wallet and put it back in my pocket, then I closed the shade on my window. I'm going back three time zones, I might as well get some rest. I'll still be on Florida time when we land. And since we land at 5 PM EST, it'll be 2 PM PST. My whole schedule is gonna be screwed up.<br>I lightly closed my eyes and found myself drifting off into a deep, relaxing sleep.


	12. Welcome to LA

I don't remember my dream, or if I even dreamed at all. But all I know is that when I woke up, I looked out my window and saw mountains. Were we in California now? I checked my phone: 5:10 EST. We should be landing soon. I wondered what LA looks like from above. All I could see were mountains. I was about to close the shade when someone cried out,  
>"Look! It's the Hollywood sign!"<br>I frantically looked out my window, and sure enough, there was the Hollywood sign. The normally big, white letters looked so small from up in the air. We then started to fly over the city. All the cars were so tiny and the buildings were so small. All I could see were skyscraper after skyscraper and the little cars driving on the road.  
>The plane started to get lower and lower and I felt it touch down. Being on the ground was completely different than being up in the air. The buildings were bigger, the cars were regular sized, and the mountains were enormous.<br>The plane slowed down and stopped in front of the terminal. I gathered my stuff and exited the plane into LAX. As soon as I stepped inside, I was awed by how huge it was. MIA was nothing compared to this place, it was like a mini mall with extreme transportation.  
>A few seconds later, I felt something dripping down my nose.<br>"Aw man!" I groaned. I pinched my nose closed and I ran to the bathroom. I frantically grabbed a paper towel and held it against my nose. When I pulled it back, it was bloody. My first bloody nose in California. Perfect. I was gonna have bloody noses for awhile until I get used to this elevation. You see, Miami is flat while LA is some thousand feet off the ground. It was gonna take some getting used to.  
>I stayed in the bathroom for a little while until the bleeding stopped. When I walked out of the bathroom, I noticed a man with a little sign that read 'Sage' on it. I walked over to him.<br>"Hi, um, are you looking for me?"  
>The man looked down at me and then looked at a little card.<br>"Sage Valentine?"  
>"The one and only."<br>He eyed me again, as if he didn't believe me.  
>"What's your full name?"<br>"Sagittarius Gemini Valentine." My God, I'm NOT using that name ever again.  
>He nodded in approval.<br>"Right. Come this way, your ride is waiting."  
>We exited the airport and came across a taxi. The man opened the door and gestured me inside.<br>"Thanks." I said, but I was a little upset. I was really hoping for a limo.  
>"Do you have any bags with you?"<br>"Nope, Just my phone and iPod. Oh yeah, and a wallet with some photos in it."  
>The man nodded and shut the door. He sat down in the front seat, next to the cab driver.<br>"I have the directions right here." The man said, pulling out a piece of paper. The cab driver nodded, and we sped off. I grabbed the edge of my seat from the force of the speeding cab, but I eventually loosened up a bit.  
>LA looked amazing. The glistening buildings, the friendly pedestrians, the shiny cars, and even the Hollywood sign in the distance. I was in awe of this magnificent city. It was just like Miami, except Miami doesn't have mountains.<br>We swerved left and right and I struggled to keep my balance. We drove through neighborhoods and little shopping plazas until we came to a complete stop in front of a light blue two story house. I was a wreck and I was trying to catch my breath. Man, that was a rush.  
>The man opened the door and I hopped out.<br>"I apologize, but I have no money. If there's any way I can repay you..."  
>"That won't be necessary, I've payed for it myself. Do you need any further assistance?"<br>"No thank you, I'm perfectly fine." I smiled.  
>"Have a good day." He went back into the taxi and it sped off. I turned and faced the house.<br>"Welcome to your new home Sage." I said to myself. I slowly walked up the steps and knocked twice on the door. I waited patiently, my heart pounding in my chest, until the door opened. It was my Aunt Catherine.  
>"Sage! Oh my goodness, look at you! You're all grown up! I remember when you were just four feet tall!" She gave me a big hug and she smothered me with kisses. I grinned sheepishly.<br>"Hi Aunt Catherine. It's great to see you."  
>"My oh my, just look at your beautiful hair! I've never seen hair quite like this before!" She played with my hair.<br>"How long did it take you to do this?"  
>"About five hours, but it really showed up about a week later."<br>"Fantastic." Then, she looked up at me, her eyes now filled with sadness.  
>"I'm so sorry about your parents. It's truly heartbreaking to hear what happened to them."<br>"Thank you. It was really hard for me to handle it too." Yeah, I fainted and I was put in a holding cell. You don't hear that every day.  
>"Let me get the kids down here. You remember Caterina and Cameron right?" Yeah, I remembered at the worst possible time: 30,000 feet up in the air.<br>I nodded, and Aunt Catherine turned her head up to the stairs.  
>"Kids! Come downstairs! Your cousin's here!"<br>I immediately heard footsteps come thumping down the hall, and Caterina turned around the corner.  
>The first thing I noticed about her was her red hair.<br>It was as red as blood. I've never seen hair that red before. It was pretty long too, about the size of my hair. It was just unbelievable.  
>The second thing I noticed was her face.<br>She had perfectly white, straight teeth with little dimples whenever she smiled. Her eyes were as dark as mine and they were so full of life. We could've been twins who were separated at birth.  
>"Sagittarius!" She squealed. She flew down the stairs and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug. I wanted to explode; she had called me by the name I despise. But I hugged her back.<br>"Hey Caterina." I said weakly.  
>"You sillyhead! No one calls me Caterina, except Grandma Caterina of course. My name is Cat."<br>Cat. She just gets crazier and crazier by the minute.  
>"Ok then, call me Sage instead of Sagittarius." Please, don't ever call me that name again.<br>"Ok 'Sage.'" She chuckled.  
>At that moment, a head peeked out the corner. It was Cameron, who looked to be about 20 years old. He had long blond hair that covered his eyes and he was slightly taller than me. He slowly came down the stairs and looked at me intently. I started to get a bit nervous.<br>"Ummm, hey Cameron, it's nice to see you again."  
>As I went to give him a hug, he slapped me across the face.<br>"The Nazis have returned!" He shouted as he ran back up the stairs.  
>My right cheek was burning fiercely and it was starting to throb. Man, he's freaking STRONG. I've never seen anyone as strong as him.<br>"Oh my God, are you ok Sage?" My Aunt Catherine asked frantically.  
>"Yeah, I'm fine, I just didn't see it coming, that's all." As a matter of fact, I'm NOT fine, that hurt like hell.<br>"I'll get some ice." Cat said, running into the kitchen.  
>"And I'll go have a talk with Cam. I swear, his X-Box is ruining his brain."<br>She tromped up the stairs and disappeared around the corner, and Cat came back with some ice wrapped in a paper towel. I pressed it to my smarting cheek and it instantly felt better. I let out a little sigh.  
>"Thanks Cat, that really helps."<br>"Hey, that's what sisters are for!"  
>I almost choked on air. Sisters? No way!<br>"No no no no no. Cat, we are not sisters. Were cousins."  
>She looked confused.<br>"But your living with us, aren't you?"  
>"Yes, but my mom or dad isn't married to your mom or dad. If they were, then we would be sisters."<br>Cat thought for awhile, then her face lit up.  
>"Ohhhhh, I get it!"<br>I desperately wanted to slap someone.  
>Cat started to twirl her blood red hair around her fingers.<br>"Do you like my hair? I colored it red after my favorite food: red velvet cupcakes!" She twirled my hair around in her fingers.  
>"What food did you dye your hair after?"<br>Oh for the love of-  
>"Actually, blue and green are my favorite colors, and I decided to add a little bit of rainbow to it for extra color."<br>"Wow..." She seemed mesmerized by my colorful hair as she played with it.  
>At that moment, Aunt Catherine came downstairs.<br>"Cam's refusing to come downstairs, as he thinks you're a Nazi." She sighed.  
>"I'm sorry about his behavior. The longer you stay the more he'll become acquainted with you..."<br>"it's fine, he hasn't seen me in awhile so he's probably just nervous."  
>I looked outside. The sun was shining brightly.<br>"Is it ok if I go for a walk? My legs are a bit numb from the long plane ride here."  
>"Go right ahead sweetie, just be back by five. I was thinking of ordering pizza tonight for dinner, if that's all right with you."<br>"Sure, that sounds good."  
>"Can I come with you?" Cat pleaded. Nuh uh. I wasn't going to let the ditzy red head ruin my peaceful walk.<br>Before I could even say anything, Aunt Catherine came to my rescue.  
>"Why don't we let Sage have a nice, quiet walk by herself. She's under a lot of stress right now and just wants some peace and quiet."<br>I could tell that Cat was disappointed, but she understood why I wanted to be alone.  
>I slipped out the front door, walked down to the end of the driveway, and walked down the street.<br>The sun was shining on that Saturday afternoon. It was two PM here and five PM in Miami. I wondered what my friends were doing at this very instant. I wanted to text them, but I had left everything back at the house. I was going to try something out.  
>I followed the sound of the ocean down several blocks to a little marketplace. People were calling me over to buy this or sample that. I politely declined, even though some of the items looked pretty interesting.<br>I finally arrived at the beach. The golden sand, the squawking seagulls, the crashing surf. I closed my eyes and let the noises take me away. A few seconds later, I frowned.  
>Something wasn't right.<br>I opened my eyes and stepped onto the golden sand. I took my sneakers and socks off and let my feet sink into the sand. It was way too rough, and it burned my feet.  
>I ran down to the water, the seagulls screaming overhead. They were much too loud. I continued to run into the freezing water, not caring if I get my only pair of clothing wet. The water was too cold, it chilled me to the bone. Before I could swim back, a huge wave knocked me underwater. I tumbled around in the freezing water, trying desperately to grab on to something. I came back up choking and coughing up water. The waves were too rough, the water too salty. Another wave flipped me around in the water. I was losing my energy trying to fight the waves, I knew if I didn't get out soon, I would probably drown.<br>I kicked frantically and tried to head to shore. Yet again, another wave sent me flying out of the water, landing with a thud on my back. I lay there, choking and coughing up water. The waves were washing up around my drenched hair, and I was shivering from the cold water. A lady walked by me and stopped.  
>"Hey miss? Are you ok?"<br>I moaned in exhaustion.  
>"Where are your parents?"<br>My parents. My parents were dead. They aren't here. They'll never be here.  
>"My parents are dead..." I mumbled.<br>"What?"  
>"My parents are dead!" I screamed. I got up, grabbed my sneakers, and I ran. I didn't know where, but I was running. Florida. Yes, I was running back to Florida. I knew I could make it, I just needed to pace myself and it should take me...about a week. Hell, maybe more than a month. Forget that idea.<br>I walked back up the rough sand and made it halfway to the street before I collapsed on the sand. My energy had been completely drained, and I couldn't continue on anymore. I slowly let my drooping eyelids close. Hey, a little nap wouldn't hurt...


	13. Tell me about yourself

When I awoke, the sun was low in the sky. My clothes were a bit damp and my hair had completely dried. How long have I been out? Was it five already?  
>I got up and brushed the sand off my clothes. I put my socks and shoes back on, then I went up to a man walking on the beach.<br>"Excuse me sir, do you have the time?"  
>The man looked down at his watch.<br>"Sure, it's 4:50."  
>I took off running. I thanked the man over my shoulder, but I didn't stop running. I bolted through the street, through the little market, and down the neighborhoods. I pumped my legs as hard as I could, my feet barely touching the ground. I turned a corner and...no, wrong way. I turned around and went down another corner and...nope, wrong way again. I continued to run down every possible street and corner I possibly could until I sat down on the curb, completely exhausted. I was lost, and it was probably five o'clock already. I buried my face in my hands.<br>"My first day in California and I'm already screwed." I mumbled in my hands.  
>Just as I was about to cry, I heard a car honk. I looked up and saw Aunt Catherine pull up in front of me.<br>"Hey Sage! I was just going to get the pizza. Why don't you come with me?"  
>I breathed a sigh of relief. My feet were killing me and I was out of breath. A nice car ride would suit me well.<br>I hopped in the front seat and we drove off. I was still breathing hard and my clothes were still damp.  
>"Wow, looks like you were training with the LA Lakers than going on a quiet walk."<br>I blushed.  
>"I was running." I lied. I took a swim in the ocean and I nearly died.<br>"I guess that was a terrible idea, these are my only clothes."  
>"Oh! Speaking of, some of your clothes arrived while you were out. You have a fresh pair of clothes and a fresh pair of pajamas for tonight."<br>I was relieved, I didn't want to wear the same salty clothes tomorrow.  
>"It must be the only way that you can release your anger right?"<br>"Yeah." I loved running. It's just so amazing to be moving at such incredible speeds.  
>"I don't blame you, your Uncle Ray was extremely stressed out too."<br>We sat in silence for the rest of the car ride. We picked up a large cheese pizza and a two liter bottle of Coke, and we drove home. When we walked through the front doors, Cat threw her arms around me.  
>"Yay! You came back alright!" She cried.<br>"Umm, yeah, I went to go get the pizza with your mom."  
>"Well, it's a good thing you weren't murdered like your parents!"<br>I was silent. What Cat said, it really hurt. Hearing that my parents are dead is hard, but hearing that they were murdered, that completely shattered me.  
>Cat noticed the tears forming in my eyes.<br>"Sage? What's wrong?"  
>"Umm, nothing, there's just some dirt in my eye." And I bolted up the stairs before Cat could see the tears pour down my eyes. I ran to the bathroom and locked the door. I slumped down into the smooth green rug before I let my tears flow freely. It was just wrong. It was so wrong. California isn't what I hoped it was. It's dirty, it's loud, and the beach...don't even get me started. It's not like the warm, calm oceans of Florida. And with my parents dead, I may never be able to see the Floridian waters again.<br>And the theme parks...I'm a huge roller coaster junkie. I live on roller coasters, and California hardly has any that I'll find amusing. Sure, it has a Disneyland and a Universal, but they don't have all the cool rides that the ones in Florida has. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Hulk, the Mummy, and the new Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster were a in Florida. They were my favorites, and only the Mummy was in Universal California.  
>And Cat, forget it. She's insane. I'm the only normal person in my whole family. Cameron is just plain insane, and so far, my first day in California is terrible! Ok, maybe not terrible, but it's off to a pretty bad start. I just wanted to go home and be with my friends.<br>I stayed in the bathroom for 30 more minutes before I heard a soft knock on the door.  
>"Sage?" It was Cat.<br>"Mom asked me to tell you that dinner's ready."  
>"Thanks Cat, I'll be right out." I tried to keep my voice steady as I stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes.<br>'Mom asked me to tell you that dinner's ready.' No, Aunt Catherine is NOT my mom. She's my aunt, and she always will be. Calling her my mom is just too weird. Maybe when I go off to college and forget about my real parents will I start calling her mom. But wait, I'll always remember my parents, so forget about that.  
>I dried my eyes and splashed some cold water on my face (Man, the water was FREEZING.) before I stepped out of the bathroom. I heard the front door open and a slightly deep voice greeted the house warmly.<br>"Dad!" I heard Cat cry. Perfect, Uncle Ray was home.  
>I trotted down the stairs to find everyone sitting down at the kitchen table. Uncle Ray looked up at me and stood up.<br>"Well if it isn't my favorite niece, Sage Valentine!"  
>I smiled, not just because I was happy to see him, but he called me Sage. NOW things were getting better.<br>I gave him a big hug.  
>"It's great to see you Uncle Ray."<br>"My God, look at you! You're almost as tall as me! And your hair…my goodness, it's like a rainbow puked in your hair!"  
>I chuckled, and Cat laughed. Uncle Ray has an amazing sense of humor. Him and I get along pretty well.<br>He stared at me, his expression changed from happy to sad.  
>"How are you holding up?"<br>"Pretty well, you?"  
>"It's a little tough. Your mom and I were pretty close. It's gonna be a pretty long and painful week for me. But hey, you chose to spend the rest of your life with us, so I guess I'll be just dandy." He clapped his hands.<br>"Now, let's enjoy this delicious pizza and discuss how you've been since the big family reunion!"  
>We all sat down (Cat was motioning me to the seat next to her.) and I grabbed a greasy slice and plopped it down on my plate, the grease glistening in the bright light.<br>"So Sage, how's Miami?" Aunt Catherine asked, pouring some Coke into her glass.  
>"Well, it's been pretty cold these past few days, there was a cold front passing through, but other than that, it's pretty amazing. All the night life and fine dining and miles and miles of sandy beaches…" I stopped myself before I could continue any further. I was describing my parent's last few hours of being alive, and I knew that if I continued, I wouldn't be able to stop crying and bawling about my parents.<br>"How about the beaches? We've heard they're pretty nice." Uncle Ray asked.  
>"The beaches are amazing. The water is warm year round, the sand is soft as silk, the waves are gentle…"<br>Yeah, it's a lot better than Cali's beaches.  
>"Amazing." He took a bite of his pizza.<br>I bit into mine, the cheese still burning hot, but I didn't care, it reminded me of a hot summer day in Miami.  
>"Where did you go to school?"<br>"The Miami School of Performing Arts." Screw that place; it was almost like hell. The principal, the teachers, the students...all were just annoying and boring as fuck.  
>"Did you like it there?"<br>No.  
>"Yeah, it was pretty cool."<br>"Well then, I know you'll love Hollywood Arts. They've got the best principal and staff in LA. I'm sure you'll feel right at home when you arrive."  
>Cat let out a little squeal of delight. Perfect, I had to go to school with her. And the staff? I bet they're just as bad as MSPA.<br>We continued to talk and eat our pizza before we cleared the table and sat around the TV. The Voice was on, and it was down to four people. One contestant was Beverly, a woman from Fort Lauderdale. I was rooting for her, as she lived pretty close to Miami. Her voice was amazing, and I was hoping she would win.  
>"So who are you rooting for Sage?" Cat asked.<br>"Beverly. She's from Fort Lauderdale."  
>Cat looked confused.<br>"Wait, where's Fort Lauderdale?"  
>I glared at her for a second, the rage in my body quieting down, before I answered.<br>"It's just north of Miami."  
>Cat's face lit up.<br>"Ohhhhh, okay!"  
>Geeez, my cousin wasn't the brightest in geography class.<br>"We're cheering for Diana, she's from LA." Diana, her voice wasn't the best I've ever heard.  
>So we were all rooting for two different people, both from our home states. They all performed and we all got ready for bed when the show ended.<br>Since my room wasn't ready yet, I was going to be sleeping in Cat's room. (Oh the joy.)  
>I grabbed my pj's from the box and went into the hall bathroom. I stripped and turned the faucet on with great difficulty. I probably should've asked how it worked first, but I managed for the water to be extra hot, and I stepped in.<br>Now you're probably gasping in pain when you read that I stepped into the shower with the water scalding hot, but don't worry, if I can survive hot, dry Florida summers, then I can definitely survive a 105 degree shower.  
>The water felt like burning bullets on my back, but it felt good. The heat was burning all my worries away. I instantly felt my muscles relax and my mind melt away. You know, I will miss Florida, but California seems like a much cooler place. It didn't get too hot in the summer, celebrities are around every corner, and there's always some kind of entertainment down the block. I remembered what Principal Daniels said to me:<br>'You'll be able to follow your dreams even more.'  
>He was right, LA was the place to be to let your dreams come true. I could become a famous actress, a pop star, a movie star, a musician, a writer, the list goes on and on. Still, I had my doubts. LA was a pretty dangerous place, I just don't wanna end up like my parents.<br>I continued to wash my body for about 10 minutes when I heard the door squeak faintly. I paused and strained to listen for anymore sounds. My heart was pounding in my chest and my breathing was shallow as I heard the sink running. The water suddenly became ice cold, it felt like knives cutting into my skin. I let out a yelp and I peeked out the shower curtain. Sure enough, there was Cat, all in her pink polka dot pj's and her red hair tied up in a messy bun. She was leaning over the sink, brushing her teeth. I could see little blobs of foam drip out of her mouth, down her hand, and into the sink. My God, she was a sloppy teeth brusher.  
>"Cat!" I nearly shrieked.<br>"What are you doing in here!"  
>She looked up at me, the thick foam settling around her mouth and hand, and smiled.<br>"Bruhshng mai teef." She replied through a mouthful of foam. She turned back to the sink and continued to brush.  
>I was flabbergasted.<br>"Well, why aren't you in your bathroom?"  
>"Behause," She replied. She spit into the sink, rinsed her toothbrush, and wiped her face.<br>"The sinks don't work in my bathroom, so I brush my teeth in here."  
>I covered myself more with the curtain.<br>"Well, could you not use it while I'm in the shower? The water gets freezing cold when you turn the sink on!"  
>She smiled at me.<br>"What's wrong with cold showers?"  
>"Umm, they're cold?"<br>"Hee hee, no they're not, you should try them sometime!"  
>She walked out of the bathroom, humming along to Avril Lavigne's 'What the Hell,' leaving me in a hushed shock. A cold shower? Who on Earth does that?<br>I turned the shower off and I dried off before I realized that my brush hadn't arrived yet. I was forced to use a tiny black comb I found in a drawer, and that proved to be a very painful experience. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to smoothly untangle the knots that form easily in my hair before I began to desperately yank and tug on the knots. I was on the ground and close to tears until I finally managed to slide the comb through my hair. My head was throbbing by the time I finished.  
>I slid my blue tank top and my green tie dye shorts on and I swished my teeth in some Listerine mouthwash I found in the bottom drawer as my tooth brush hadn't arrived yet either. It burned my mouth and my eyes were tearing up, so I spit it out after 20 seconds instead of 30.<br>I picked up my clothes, but before I could exit the bathroom, I felt something drip down my nose again. I sighed and grabbed a tissue right when my nose exploded with blood. Another bloody nose, right after I clean my face, too. I stayed in the bathroom until my nose stopped bleeding, threw the bloody tissue out, and I exited the bathroom, dumped my clothes into the box outside Cat's room, and I walked into her room. What I saw nearly made me collapse.  
>It was pure pink.<br>Pink walls, pink carpeting, fuzzy pink lamps, everything was pink. There were decorative flowers on the walls and pictures of bunny rabbits and hats and scarves were hanging from little shelves and on the bedposts. Cat was sitting on her pink bed, listening to some weird girly song. She had on her pink pj's and was wearing pink fuzzy slippers with hearts on them. When she saw me, she smiled.  
>"Hey Sage! Come over here and help me with something!"<br>I slowly made my way over to her bed, nearly tripping on a variety of colorful stuffed animals and other random knick knacks before I stumbled onto her bed.  
>"What is it Cat?"<br>She stared at me.  
>"What happened to your nose?"<br>Confused, I put my hand up to my nose and it came back with a tiny drop of blood on my fingers.  
>"Oh, I had a bloody nose. It's all better now, though."<br>She looked relieved.  
>"Okay, what do you think should be my newest update for TheSlap?"<br>"For the what?"  
>", it's my school's social website." She nudged my shoulder.<br>"Or should I say, 'our' school's social website." She giggled.  
>Well that's just great, now my friends in Miami can see the pain I'm going through at my new school.<br>"When I go there, do I have to have an account?"  
>"Of course silly! Everyone who goes to Hollywood Arts has to have an account!"<br>No. I don't want an account. My friends will be able to see what I'm doing and how miserable I am. Maybe I can convince Aunt Catherine to send me to another school. I've heard of Sherwood High, it's a pretty decent place with a low student-teacher ratio. That was good, I don't like big crowds. Besides, it has a pretty nice view of the Hollywood sign; I could do my homework outside on a calm, peaceful LA afternoon with the sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing my hair. The birds will be chirping and the loud, distant roar of a jet plane will fill the quiet air...  
>"Sage? Earth to Sage! Can you hear me?"<br>I snapped out of my little paradise and was whisked back to Cat's incredibly pink room with Cat sitting next to me, her pink laptop balanced on her crossed legs. She looked concerned and confused, but Cat's always confused, as I've observed.  
>"Yeah, I can hear you Cat. I was just…thinking."<br>"Good! Now what should my update be?"  
>I sighed. Why on earth would I care about what she writes?<br>"I don't know, how about you write that you're tired and going to bed?"  
>"But I'm not tired! That's just the thing!" She looked back at her computer.<br>"I have more energy than ever!"  
>No kidding.<br>"Cat, it's ten thirty, who's up at this time?"  
>She looked up at me, then back at her computer.<br>"I don't know, people all the way in China?"  
>I sighed in anguish.<br>"Cat, they don't have access to TheSlap."  
>"But maybe they do!" It was starting to sound like she was begging to write to the people all the way in China. Like they'd want to know what this ditzy redhead was up to at ten thirty at night.<br>"Please Sage, let me write to the people in China! I'm sure they'd love to hear what I'm up to!"  
>I took a second to let the rage in my body calm down, then I shrugged.<br>"Go ahead Cat, of you want to write to the people in Hong Kong and Beijing, be my guest."  
>She cocked her head and gave me a funny look.<br>"I'm not writing to them, I'm writing to China!"  
>I started to gnaw on my bottom lip. It was all I could do to not scream at her.<br>She began to type away on her computer, and she showed me what she wrote a minute later:  
>'Hello people of China! I hope you can understand what I'm writing! Mood: Foreign.'<br>I gave her a sideways glance.  
>"Cat, I don't think they would be able to understand what you wrote."<br>She looked at me, concern etched all over her face.  
>"You mean, they don't speak English?"<br>I swear to God, this has been the most agonizing ten minutes of my life.  
>"No Cat, they speak Chinese." I said in an eerily calm voice. I was trying desperately to not loose my patience with her.<br>She looked down at her computer.  
>"Oh well, they can use Google Translate." She shrugged, closing her laptop. She got under the covers and turned out her light.<br>"Goodnight Sage."  
>I got under the soft pink covers and closed my eyes.<br>"Goodnight Cat."  
>Before I could drift off, I felt a sudden vibration underneath my pillow. Of course, I asked Cat to put my phone underneath my pillow when I went on that walk. I slowly took it out and read the screen.<br>'One new message: unknown.'  
>Perfect, it's my stalker again. I thought heshe would leave me alone after I left Florida. Looks like I'm wrong.  
>I opened the message and read the daily threat that was sent to me.<br>'Goodnite little cuz. Hope u like long naps, when I see u, itll be a looong nite 4 u!'  
>What did this guy want? Did I owe someone? Did someone have a grudge on me? The fact that someone had a personal vendetta on me was terrifying, and if I don't find out who it is, there might be some trouble in store for me.<br>I shut my phone off and stuffed it under my pillow. Right when I got comfortable, I felt something warm drip out of my nose.  
>Another bloody nose. <p>


	14. An early start

**Hey guys! So this week a major cold front passed through South Florida, and the highs for Tuesday and Wednesday were only in the 50's. Not only was it freezing, but the wind chill made the temps drop into the thirties. Kind of reminds you of a certain chapter...(;  
>I know, this chapter is kinda short: School has kept me from writing as much as I can; but hey! It's the weekend!:D  
><strong>**Review! :3**

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><p>It was the rumbling of a truck that woke me from my deep sleep.<p>

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the dark room. At first, I thought I was still in Miami, and my parents were coming home from a long night of partying too hard.

_Man, I _TOLD _them not to get too drunk! Looks like I'm gonna have to yell at them for getting too careless._

There was a light rustling next to me, and I turned my head to find a strand of red hair on my pillow. Cat's hair.

That brought me back to the harsh reality of the present. Dead parents, moving thousands of miles away from home, having to put up with my crazy cousins. As of right now, I had no friends, which I was actually pretty used to. Other than Macy, Lindsay, and Dylan, everyone had no idea I existed. I was friendly to everyone, (yes, sometimes even to Brenda) I was smart, talented, and funny; but much to my chagrin, people just treated me like a speck of dust.

Now, you might be thinking that I'm very egotistical and demanding, but I've never had any real friends since fifth grade, after that whole Brenda incident. I've felt alone, even with my two best friends and my boyfriend. Maybe, just maybe, I'll have more luck in LA.

I sighed as I slowly and groggily got out of bed, nearly tripping on one of Cat's knick knacks, and walked out into the dimly lit hallway. I was exhausted; three bloody noses kept me from getting a good night's sleep. I'm not sure how much longer I could take the feeling of warm blood dripping out my nose.

I stopped at Aunt Catherine and Uncle Scott's room, where they were sprawled out on their bed in sleep. I wondered if my parents ever looked like that while they slept. I rarely went into their room back home.

I lightly knocked on the door.

"Aunt Catherine? Uncle Scott?" I lightly whispered.

Uncle Scott twitched and let out a loud snore. Aunt Catherine turned in bed and rubbed her face. In the dimly lit room, I could faintly make out her chocolate eyes slowly opening.

"Sage? What's wrong honey?" She asked hoarsely.

"The moving trucks are here. They've got my stuff."

She stretched.

"What time is it?"

I looked over at the dark red numbers of Uncle Scott's digital clock.

"It's seven forty five."

She winced.

"AM? Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack." There was a loud knocking sound that made me look down the hall. This situation was a little bit eerie; being in a dark house with a stranger knocking at your door. It wasn't like Miami where I knew everyone in my apartment building.

"So what should we do?"

Aunt Catherine rubbed her face and sighed.

"Well, we might as well let them in; they're just gonna come back at another inconvenient time if we don't answer." She gave Uncle Scott a few light pushes.

"Scott, wake up; the moving truck is here."

"Hmm? What moving truck…?" Was the groggy reply.

There was suddenly a loud scream that made me jump a mile into the air. Needless to say, it also got Uncle Scott and Aunt Catherine's full attention. They immediately sat up in bed.

"Was that Cat?" Uncle Scott asked.

There was a thumping sound in the hall that got progressively louder and louder. I turned around and came face to face with a terrified Cat, her eyes wide and her hair a mess.

"Guys! There's a big U-Haul truck parked right outside our house! Then there was a guy who walked up to our door and saw him knock! I heard it too! I don't wanna leave LA! It's perfect here! Well, I've always wanted to go to Cancun, but I've lived in LA my whole life and now we're moving someplace different and you never told me-"

"Cat!" Aunt Catherine nearly shouted.

"We're not moving! These are the people with Sage's stuff!"

Cat was silent. She glanced over at me and her parents.

"Oh. That's a relief. I thought we were leaving forever. You scared me!"

My heart was beating a mile a minute, and all I could do was stare at her with disbelief.

And that's how I began my Sunday.


	15. Everything will be ok

**Guess who's back! :D  
>I know, I know, I've been gone for awhile. You guys have no idea how incredibly busy I've been. And right when I was gonna start writing again, I found out that Victorious is ending! :O<br>That really put me down in the dumps, and I lost all motivation to write again. But have no fear, good citizens, I'm back, and I'll be writing more often!  
>So without further ado, here is the next chapter to Sagittarius!<strong>

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><p>My head was pounding and my fingers were cramping. A thin line of sweat covered my brow line, and I hastily wiped it away with the palm of my hand.<p>

_Don't lose your focus, Sage. Your whole life depends on this_.  
>My eyes were straining, trying to scope out the scenery. It was an abandoned factory, right in the middle of a barren, frozen wasteland. I slowly turned around and walked slowly to an abandoned building.<br>"You can't hide forever..." I mumbled in a raspy voice.  
>There was a slight bang, and I whipped around to a pile of crates. It was silent. I slowly made my way over, gun positioned directly at the source of the noise.<br>"Gotcha," I sneered, ready to claim victory.  
>Right as I was about to fire, someone grabbed my shoulders.<br>"SURPRISE! A shrill voice screamed into my ear.  
>I leapt almost a mile high and yelped like a little puppy dog. I lost control of the gun, and it aimed upwards towards the ceiling. Then, loud, rapid gunfire blared from the T.V., accompanied by bright strobe lights. There was a loud groan, and I fell to the floor, dead, my enemy running off into the distance. The word 'GAME OVER' flashed across the screen in bright red.<br>And just like that, my reputation in Black Ops was destroyed.  
>I yanked my headpiece off my head and turned to Cat, who was laughing hysterically on the ground, tears rolling down her rosy cheeks.<br>"Cat! Why the hell would you do that!?"  
>Cat, who had calmed down a tad bit, sat up and wiped the tears away from her eyes.<br>"Because you were so focused, and you were so into that game...I mean, c'mon! Who WOULDN'T want to scare you?" And she burst out laughing again.  
>My face burned with rage and embarrassment.<br>"Well, thanks to you, I lost to the WORST Black Ops player in HISTORY. I was ranked NUMBER ONE for three months straight, and now I'm..." I stopped, my voice getting caught in my throat.  
>"Worthless..." I whispered quietly. I buried my face into my hands and groaned.<br>It was Sunday evening, and after spending the whole day unpacking boxes and boxes of stuff, I was relieved to have some down time. And what better way do spend it by playing COD? Well, I THOUGHT it was a good idea, until I remembered about Cat and Cameron, who still thinks I'm just another random stranger.  
>Today, Cat found it very entertaining to scare me to death. She placed a rubber spider in my personal item box (I'm terrified of spiders that have long legs, and this one was about four feet in length. I don't know what's more frustrating: the fact that Cat knows I have arachnophobia, or the fact that she went into my personal box), she wore a monster mask and stood at the corner of the hall, so of course I walked right into her and dropped my undergarment box, spilling the contents all over the place. The pranks continued all day, and this one happened to be the last straw. No one, but NO ONE, disturbs me while I'm playing COD.<br>"It's gonna take me weeks to regain my spot..." I whimpered.  
>"Aww, come on Sage, it was only a joke. Besides, video games can really screw up your mind,"<br>"You would know," I mumbled. I turned the game off and placed the game back into its case. I slid it high on the shelf above the T.V. so I was the only one who could reach it. I slid back on the couch and rested my head on the armrest. I let out a long sigh.  
>"Awww, why the long face?" Cat asked, sitting on the opposite end of the couch and wiggling my toes.<br>"I've just been a little...stressed out lately," I mumbled. I sat up abruptly.  
>"And stop wiggling my toes like that! It's creepy,"<br>Cat stopped and smiled at me.  
>"Aw come on! Tomorrow's your first day of school! You should be excited!"<br>I shuddered at the mention of school. I was NOT excited about starting at a new school, let alone making new friends. I just wished I could see my old friends again and forget these past few weeks. I didn't even have the proper school supplies for the year. I leaned my head back and groaned.  
>Cat put a hand on my knee.<br>"Hey, don't be sad. You're gonna feel right at home as soon as you walk through those doors. Everyone is like a family at this school,"  
>"Yeah, but I have almost no family now and I only have three friends to rely on," I sat up and crossed my arms around my knees. I curled my toes, listening to each one crack.<br>Cat moved her way next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. A light scent of cotton candy wafted around the room.  
>"Why would people hate you? You've gotta be the sweetest person I've ever met. Well, not including the fact that you're my cousin who I haven't seen in years,"<br>I chuckled.  
>"Thanks," I looked out the two giant windows into the fading twilight, the last bit of sunlight reflecting a faint pink glow on the trees.<br>"There was an...incident that happened right before my parents' deaths. A popular girl at school made fun of my...heavier friend, and I attacked her. Apparently I broke her neck, and that caused everyone to hate me,"  
>Cat let out a little whine.<br>"Aww, that's so sad! Who are your friends?"  
>"Lindsay was one of them. She loves stripes. Macy was the heavier one who is hilarious, and then there's Dylan..."<br>Dylan. That name sent a shiver down my spine. I let out a sigh and leaned back into the overstuffed polyester couch. Dylan. My boyfriend of one year. The only boy who cared for me. I envisioned his golden brown locks that he would occasionally sweep off his face. I dreamed of his light brown eyes that always reminded me of milk chocolate. His smile, which twinkled like the stars at night. It reminded me of the summer of our freshman year, when we just got together. We were lying on the roof of his house, in a suburb just outside of Miami. The streets were dark, and there were barely any lights emitting from the surrounding houses. Crickets were plentiful, lazily chirping away into the dark night.  
>I was lying with my body snuggled up close to Dylan, my head rested against his shoulder. He had his arms wrapped around me, and he would occasionally kiss me lightly on my forehead. We stared up at the full moon, bright and pure in the night sky. Millions of stars dotted the sky, creating beautiful images in the sky.<br>"Sage, has anyone ever told you that you're the most beautiful girl on this earth?"  
>I smiled as a blush started to form on my cheeks. I was glad it was dark outside so he couldn't see how I reacted.<br>"You have the honor of being the first one," I said, leaning up to place a light kiss on his cheek.  
>"I'm glad we're going to the same high school. If I hadn't met you during vocal camp, I don't know what I'd do with my life," I grinned as I thought about the first day of vocal camp back in June, when we were paired up to sing a duet. He said he was from Miami Norland, but transferred to MSPA when he joined the school choir and was discovered to have a beautiful voice. We instantly hit it off and perfected our duet in no time, becoming the best singers at camp. On the last day of camp, he asked me out to dinner and a movie, and when he brought me home, we shared our first kiss. We've been together ever since.<br>"I'm kinda nervous about the first day back. I mean, I'm starting at a new school that's filled with an insane amount of talent and people I don't even know and..."  
>I quickly cut him off by pulling him into a kiss. He let out a sigh and his body relaxed underneath me.<br>"Just stick with me," I said after pulling back.  
>"I'll show you around and show you the people who can and can't be trusted," Brenda and her little clique flashed across my mind right after I finished my sentence, and I shuddered a little.<br>Dylan smiled. He brought me down next to him and draped his arm across my chest. He softly stroked the hair right behind my ear.  
>"I love you, Sage,"<br>I smiled and wrapped my arms around him.  
>"I love you too, Dylan,"<br>We lay there in silence, the stars twinkling faintly in the night sky...  
>"Sage? What's wrong?"<br>Cat's worried voice brought me back to the present. I was sitting on her couch in the living room, tears pouring out of my eyes. I shook my head and buried my face into my hands.  
><em>Dead parents, moved out of Florida, living in California with crazy cousin...<em> my mind immediately recollected the recent incidents from the past. It only made me shudder and sob desperately.  
>"I miss my boyfriend," I sobbed into my hands.<br>"I miss my friends, I miss my school, I miss my parents, I miss Miami, I miss...I miss...everything!"  
>I continued to sob into my hands, and I suddenly felt angry.<br>'Get a hold of yourself Sage; you're stronger than this, stop crying like a two year old.' But I continued to keep crying, my hands soaked with my own tears. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and rub my back softly.  
>"Hey, it's ok Sage; I'm sure all your friends will never forget you and talk to you whenever they can, and they'll always have that special place in their hearts for you. Who knows? Maybe they'll come up to LA and visit you!"<br>I chuckled and wiped a tear from my eye.  
>"I doubt that. Plane tickets to LA are pretty expensive," I sighed and looked down at my toes, curling them against the soft couch fibers.<br>"But there's been a lot of crap going on back home. I bet people are glad that I left," I started to twirl a loose couch fiber around my finger, wrapping it up tighter and tighter until my finger turned purple. Right when my finger felt like it was going to explode, I unwrapped the fiber and watched my finger return to its original color.  
>"Just stick with me tomorrow. I'll introduce you to all my friends, and hopefully you can become the best of friends with them!"<br>Her sentence reminded me of what I said to Dylan on that summer night a year ago. I fought back tears as I gave her a big hug. I let out a sigh.  
>"Thanks Cat, it means a lot to me that you care,"<br>She giggled.  
>"You're welcome Sage! I'll try to help you out as best as I can!"<br>I smiled and pulled back just as Aunt Catherine walked into the living room.  
>"Alrighty, whose ready for some infamous Valentine veggie burgers?"<br>"Oooh! I am!" Cat squealed as she leapt off the couch towards the kitchen.  
>I chuckled and slowly stood up. Maybe Cat was right; my friends would still remember me and possibly even come up to visit me. If not, then maybe I can go back down to Miami and visit sometime. And who knows? Maybe I will make some new friends tomorrow. I just have to open my mind and heart to others.<br>I slowly made my way into the kitchen, the smell of veggie burgers sending my mind into a whirl.

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><p><strong>Well, there you have it! The newest chapter of Sagittarius! I know it's a little short, but I promise to make it up to you guys. Things will get better in the upcoming chapters.<br>And yes, I will be writing more often. I may not update in a few weeks, or maybe even months, but I promise you guys I will constantly be writing more chapters for the story. I also have some other ideas for different stories...expect some new stories in the near future!  
>Don't forget to review!<br>Peace out errybody!  
>MusicMegXoxo 3<strong>


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